Ace
by 101Salocin
Summary: 15-year-old Louise Tuckerman has Ace, an M4A3E8 Sherman, in her basement, belonging to her grandfather, who was its commander back in World War 2. With him now passed on, the tank was discovered by officials and caused a stir. With an unexpected offer from a Japanese high school uniting the survival of the tank and her desire to participate in tankery, her answer is obvious.
1. Prologue

**(The original Author's Note here was accidentally deleted.)**

**Hello, this is the author here. Obviously I hope you guys will enjoy this fic! Also, this is the first time I'm attempting a GuP fic, so please give me some constructive feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Girls und Panzer. This work is solely done under my personal, non-profiting interests.**

_Prologue_

_24 August 1944_

The war against the Germans had turned its tide, and after the landing at Normandy, the Allies were pushing hard towards Berlin.

Tank Commander Joshua "Josh" Tuckerman looked around his French surroundings as his tank cruised steadily at 30 kilometers an hour, along with the 4 other medium tanks in the platoon.

In the single-line formation, his tank was the second from the front, the lead tank, an M4A1(75) named Grey Wolf, right in front of him. Directly behind him was the British Sherman VC Firefly called "Pluck" by her crew, followed by Peaches and Snowball, an M4A1(76) and M4A3(75)D respectively.

And of course, there's his tank; an M4A3E8 named Ace of Spades. Or just Ace in short, with a single black spade painted around the top left of the front of the projectile-scarred hull, directly above the right headlight and unobstructed by the additional track armour she carried.

The E8, or what everyone calls the Easy-Eight, is the best tank in the platoon, being the only one with the Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension system, or HVSS for short, allowing Ace to travel more smoothly compared to her peers. Other than better mobility and a more comfortable ride, this allows the 76.2 millimeter M1 cannon, formidable and already supported by the Sherman Westinghouse stabilizer, to fire at enemy targets earlier from movement and much more accurately at low speeds.

Ace, also the only one in the platoon with this trait, also has wet ammunition racks. In the event that the enemy penetrates and hits the ammo storage, the tank would not blow up and, if lucky, be potentially able to remain operational. All in all, the Easy-Eight is, so far, the best variant of the Sherman in existence, both on paper and battlefield.

A shot was heard and Grey Wolf suddenly exploded, its turret thrown in the air as the shockwave.

All of the tanks immediately stopped.

The young man, his ears ringing, froze for a few seconds before frantically looking around for what fired upon them.

Another shot. A single shot went through the right of Snowball, the tank going silent less than a second after it was struck.

Tuckerman, recognizing the sound of the gun, got down his hatch, closed it and picked up his radio, suddenly remembering that he is the second-in-command of the platoon. "Eighty-eight! All tanks turn 60 degrees right!"

As the three remaining Shermans traversed and turned their front towards the unseen enemy, the commander shouted orders to his crew through the intercom.

"Load shell!"

With a boom, Peaches is dead, the enemy shell having gone straight through the gun mantlet.

"Enemy tank spotted!" Pluck's commander shouted through the radio. "King Tiger, 400 meters, bearing 090!"

The one tank Josh was hoping wasn't the attacker.

"Pluck, turn to bearing 120 and advance, speed at your discretion! Fire at will!"

He switched over to his tank's intercom. "Ford, advance at 5 miles an hour! Archer, fire at will!"

The 17-pounder of the Firefly fired towards a line of bushes. The 76.2 mm shell visibly bounced off something, likely the front plate of the enemy heavy tank.

Archer, the nickname the crew gave the gunner, turned the turret towards the foe as Ace advanced off the road and onto the grass, pulling the trigger.

With a bang, Ace fired, the M62 shell streaking towards the target at almost 800 meters per second. It struck the enemy tank, but bounced off the still-hidden Tiger's front plate harmlessly.

"Load shot, and keep loading that until I say otherwise!" Tuckerman ordered Butter, his loader.

"Aye boss!"

With another bang, the 88 fired once again, this time at Pluck. The Firefly exploded the same way as Gray Wolf, its turret blown sky-high as the hull crawled to a stop, a glowing hole on its front armour plate.

The remaining tank commander quickly considered his options. The Tiger hasn't fired at them probably because the camouflage and false muzzle brake was probably effective, marking the enemy commander think that the Easy-Eight was not an Easy-Eight, instead being a weaker variant with a shorter gun barrel. However, being the last target left, one shot would've all that would be needed to kill him and his crew, and he was too close and exposed to retreat.

There was only one thing left to do: fight.

"Ford, let's flank!" Josh shouted through the radio. "10 miles an hour, get us closer and to his side!"

Ace fired again, her gun stable as the M93 composite-rigid shot left the barrel.

It bounced off the Tiger's front armour harmlessly, like the M62 fired before.

"Archer, I need you to aim for the turret of that son of a-"

"I'm trying my best-"

The Tiger fired at Ace, but miraculously, the shell whizzed past the back of the Sherman with just an inch to spare, impacting the ground and throwing dirt into the air.

Ace returned the favor, this time striking the turret. The M93 shot, however, grazed past the right side of the Tiger's turret rather harmlessly.

"Shit shit shit shit shit!"

The Sherman advanced sideways, and Tuckerman noticed that the Tiger was getting more visible. It was, however, in a field of bushes, and its sides were effectively visually blocked by said bushes.

"Ford, adjust heading, 40 degrees right!"

As Ace veered right, her turret barely keeping up at the enemy tank, the Tiger fired again, hitting the ground at where Ace would've been if she hasn't turned away.

The Tiger 2 was now 200 meters away. Archer fired, and this time the shell would've hit the enemy tank… if it didn't back up at the very last second.

The commander could make out the German tank adjusting its position, angling its hull towards the advancing Sherman.

It fired again, its shell grazing across the left side of Ace's turret, leaving a deep scrape while the tracks placed there were knocked away.

Ace's crew was stunned by the impact, all their ears ringing.

"Load shell, load shell!" Tuckerman screamed into the intercom, recovering.

Frantically, Butter put the nearly-shoved-in M93 back into the rack and grabbed a M62, shoving it into the gun breech as quickly as he could, the momentum sending the shell into position and automatically shutting the breech. "Gun loaded!"

And at that moment, the Tiger fired, and this time the 88 mm shell found its mark on the hull.

Tuckerman's ears rung and his body felt numb. It wasn't long, however, before his ears cleared up and he felt a searing pain throughout the lower portion of his body.

Groaning in pain, he looked down.

His crew is dead. Everyone had shrapnel all over their bodies. Blood was everywhere.

Somehow, he's still alive.

_It must've been APCR, _the half-dead commander thought numbly. _That one doesn't spall as much as APCBC. He must've thought that this is a Jumbo. Seems like the wet rack did its job well._

Staring out of his sights on the now-stationary tank, he saw the Tiger 2, about a 150 meters away now, roll out of her hiding place, her commander climbing out his hatch, smiling triumphantly.

Looking down, he noted that his gun breech was shut and looked okay. He could not hear or feel the engine running, not sure if it was simply stalled or was dead.

The commander suddenly got an idea. Painfully sliding down and gently pushing the dead Archer out of the bloody gunner's seat, he tested the manual traverse system.

He felt and saw the turret move without any problems. The drive gear for the turret wasn't damaged at least, although he was not sure whether power traverse was okay.

He was betting that it is.

_King Tigers keep ammo in the back of their turrets._

Climbing back into the commander's position, he observed the Tiger heading closer towards his tank. He watched as it past Ace on her right at around 10 miles an hour, the Maybach HL 230 P30 audible from even inside the Sherman. The German commander took a little interest in the American medium tank, as if not convinced she was dead, before relenting and looking away, his tank turning left.

A short but long-enough distance away from Ace now, Tuckerman slipped down onto the gunner's seat as quickly as he can, grabbing the red joystick-like power traverse controls and turning the turret right.

The electric motor of the OilGear system was indeed working, and the turret turned swiftly towards the Tiger 2.

Finding the German tank in the gunner sights, Tuckerman turned left to correct his overshoot before elevating the gun and quickly fine-tuning his aim right at the back of the heavy tank's turret.

"I win."

Tuckerman pushed the button.

The gun fired, the recoil opening the breech and shoving the shell casing out.

Tuckerman watched the turret of the Tiger explode as the rest of the German tank, which was basically just the hull, crawl to a stop, flames licking out of the inside.

The commander slumped back into the chair, in great pain. He was, however, satisfied, and most of all, relieved.


	2. Chapter 1

_One_

"_... and that's how your grandpa's the only survivor of his platoon and nearly died to the Germans," the old man told, telling his story to his young granddaughter._

_The kid looked at him in wide wonder. "What happened after, grandpa?"_

"_Well, the radio of Ace was still working so naturally I called for help. It arrived soon enough, and I rode a truck to a hospital for treatment. The medics told me I was lucky to have survived and managed to remove the shrapnel in my body, and I had to take penicillin to prevent infection after. All the bodies were recovered and buried, Ace was abandoned and I was put in reserve since I have neither tank nor crew, all the way till the Nazis surrendered. I resigned from the Army, told my family that I wanted to settle here in France and bought this house in a town near where I fought the King Tiger. It took a while, but I managed to find Ace, a bit dirtier and rustier than a few months ago but still okay, sitting at the same spot she was left. I went in, restarted her and drove her back home into the basement, all during a single night. I removed all the rust I found, took out the ammo, dried the racks and cleaned her up, but I didn't want to fix the damage she took from her fights, so that they can tell a story. I check on her almost everyday up till today, occasionally running the engine so that it won't break down."_

"_And Ace looks just as clean as ever!" Louise said, climbing off the hull as the old man stood up with help from his walking stick, having been leaning against the front of the Sherman._

"_Yes, she is," he chuckled, turning around to look at the tank he saved._

"_I want to play tankery when I grow up!" the young Tuckerman exclaimed excitedly, looking at Ace too._

_The old Tuckerman chuckled. "Go for it if you can! Just like your mom, eh?"_

"_Yeah, it's fun! But isn't it dangerous, grandpa?"_

"_Now now, that's a different story. You see, those tanks in tankery have been modified to be safe to both their own crews and other crews. Even injuries in the sport are rare as hell."_

"_Oh…" the young girl acknowledged. "I heard from my friends that tanks are for girls, and they don't believe that you're a tanker. All the boys who like tanks are teased, too."_

"_Well, that's what everyone's forgetting these days, kiddo," he sighed. "Always remember: those tanks are crewed by girls and are used in a safe sport today, but all of them were once weapons meant to kill people, manned by men who fought for their country. That's a fact that everyone seems to forget these days."_

"_I'll not forget it!" Louise beamed._

"_Oh, will you?" the old man chuckled, rubbing her hair. "Your mom did end up remembering, though, so maybe you will."_

"_Can Ace be modified for tankery?"_

"_Yes, I don't see why not."_

"_Can you let me use Ace then?"_

"_Ah, no. Funny, your mom asked the same thing too."_

"_Aww…" she pouted. "But I understand, grandpa. Ace means a lot to you, right?"_

"_Yes," he rubbed the young girl's hair again, "she does. Along with your mom."_

15-year-old Louise Tuckerman recalled the conversation she had with her grandfather all those years back, sitting in Ace's commander's chair. In her hands was her grandfather's picture album, full of pictures ranging from him as a child to the present day.

She had just attended the funeral of her grandfather earlier that day.

Everyone saw it coming, and just days ago he died peacefully with all loved ones around him, including Naomi herself, her uncle and various friends of Josh's. After all these years, the ex-tank commander has reunited with the rest of his crew, his wife and his daughter.

Speaking of tanks…

_They'll find her someday eventually. You kept her both physically and as a secret for so long, but without you, what will happen if someone discovers her and tips the police off?_

The Sherman was practically a member of the family for as long as she could remember, and she's not letting her go.

The 15-year-old girl rested her head on her hands, on the inside of the commander's cupola.

"I won't let them take Ace, grandpa. You have my word."

* * *

The young Tuckerman stared out of the window, daydreaming about tanks and Tankery as usual.

This is Louise Tuckerman, daughter of Selena Tuckerman, granddaughter of Joshua Tuckerman.

Selena died from an accident a few years after Louise's birth, thus the latter could only roughly remember her mom. For the most as long as she could remember, the girl had been living with her grandfather and Uncle David. Louise has no idea who her father is, but from what she heard from Josh, her father did it with her mom and bailed the moment he realized he impregnated her, leaving the sole mother alone to fend for herself.

Her grandfather was a tank commander. Her mother was a tank commander as well. However, Louise's school never had tankery as an option, so she had never been in a tank fight before, no matter war or Tankery.

That, however, does not mean she's not fond of tanks. In fact, it's a hobby of sorts for her.

And, of course, her favorite is the M4A3E8 Sherman.

_Those teams from Japan are going to fight near here later today, huh. They'll stream it all for the students in here, too. Those girls, they look like they're having so much fun!_

_Man, if only they actually provide the sport in this town. Why does the government here have those so-called "safety concerns" anyway?_

"Louise!"

"Yes!" she immediately turned her attention back to her teacher.

"Please pay attention. Just because you catch up quickly on it doesn't mean you should wander off."

"Yes, miss. I'm sorry."

* * *

The sounds of gunfire blasted through the school hall's speakers as the battle raged on.

As all the other students were gasping and chatting excitedly while the teachers folded their arms with unapproving looks on their faces, Louise stayed silent, completely captivated in the streaming of the match from, for the first time ever, drones.

This battle is an exhibition flag battle taking place between some notable Japanese schools, who were on a short tour to "promote Tankery in the West" due to places outside of Japan not being as into the sport as the Japanese themselves, the main reason being "safety concerns".

On one side was the teams of Ooarai Girls Academy and St Gloriana's Girl's College; the other consists of Saunders University High School and Pravda Girls' High School.

The other Japanese teams were having their own matches in America, probably in order to cover more ground and use their resources efficiently on the logistical side.

Back to the fight. An IS-2 and four T-34-85s were being driven back by an advancing squad of Crusaders and some of Oorai's tanks. The heavy tank is the flag tank, and obviously it was in danger of being knocked out of the match. If that happens, victory goes to the Oorai/St Gloriana team.

"Nonna!" Klara shouted into the radio of the IS-2. "Help me draw fire away!"

"Yes, Katyusha!" was the reply from the vice-commander. In Russian, she contacted a fellow T-34: "Klara, disable as many Crusaders as you can!"

"Yes!" was the reply in Russian as the blonde girl ordered her gunner to fire upon the leading British Cruiser Mk VI Crusader Mk III.

"Aiee!" Rosehip exclaimed as the 75 mm shell hit and bounced of her white tank, the Crusader shaking and her tea dangerously close to spilling. "I'll get them, damn it! Fire at that T-34!"

The British tank shot back, but its 57 mm shell missed.

"Rosehip, don't lose yourself," Darjeeling's calm voice spoke through the radio. "Remember, we have a plan to follow."

"Got it, Miss Darjeeling!" the redhead shouted back happily.

"Where's the damn Yankee and her Shermans?!" the short Russian commander in the IS-2 shouted in annoyance.

"Hey, we can hear you, you know," was the playful reply from Saunders' commander.

"Calm down, Katyusha," Nonna replied. "We're almost there."

From the dense bushes, Kay watched out from her M4 as the Russian tanks crossed the designated line.

"Alisa, Katyusha has crossed Point B. Prepare to go on to the next phase of Operation Hamburger on my mark."

"Got it," was the reply.

Now the Crusaders just had to cross that line too…

"There!" Rosehip shouted as the Russian tanks U-turned and ground to a halt together. "All tanks stop! We have them now!" she grinned.

"Now!" Kay shouted enthusiastically.

Saunders' tanks, all Shermans, rolled out of their hiding spots from both sides of the clearing, blocking off any chance of the Crusaders pulling a fast one.

"We got 'em now!" Arisa grinned. "They walked right into our trap!"

"All tanks, fire!" the Saunders commander ordered.

The Shermans began to shoot at the British tanks, their shells disabling one Crusader as the Pravda tanks began to fire as well.

Another Crusader was knocked out.

"Damn it! But!" Rosehip grinned. "Guess who's actually in the trap!"

"I got you now!" Alisa smirked, her group approaching the St Gloriana tanks as her M4A1's 76 mm M1 gun pointed straight at the redhead's tank. "Fir-"

A single shot from behind took her tank out first, however.

"Well done, Rosehip," Darjeeling praised the redhead as her Churchill Mk IV, which was the flag tank of the team rolled out of the bushes a distance behind Alisa's line of Shermans, along with a few Matildas and Ooarai's Porsche Tiger and Jadgpanzer 38(t).

"Really?! Thank you! Wow, Miss Darjeeling praised me! Miss Darjeeling praised me!" was audible from the radio of the British heavy tank."

The St Gloriana commander chuckled softly.

On the other side, the rest of the Ooarai tanks revealed themselves behind Kay's row; a Panzer IV, a Type 89 I-Go, a StuG 3, an M3 Lee, a Char B1 bis and a Type 3 Chi-Nu.

"Whaaaaat?!" the Saunders commander exclaimed in English. "My row, turn around! Quickly!"

"Crap! Turn to the Churchill, turn to the Churchill!" Katyusha ordered urgently. "Nonna, Klara, cover me!"

"We're bogged down by fire from Ooarai's tanks here!" Nonna replied rather calmly as they shot the incoming enemies.

"They walked right into our trap!" Anzu grinned in the 38(t). "It's lucky we managed to notice them laying their own trap before we laid ours, this is a great opportunity!"

"We were lucky too," Miho Nishizumi replied through her radio in the Panzer 4 Ausf H as the tank fired upon the Saunders and Pravda tanks. "Leopon, take the shot please!"

"Yes!"

The Tiger aimed its 88 mm KwK 36 at the IS-2, which was struggling to turn around in such a short time.

"You're mine," Hoshino grinned as she fired.

The shell hit the Russian heavy tank right on its right side, bursting into a cloud of smoke.

The white flag of the tank's referee equipment popped out of the tank.

"Team A's flag tank has been disabled," the judge announced. "Team B is victorious!"

"Wow…" Louise muttered to herself as all the other students cheered.

_I really wanna fight with them like that!_

_But…_

"There you have it, students," the principal said as he walked up the stage. He barely finished the stairs when everyone, aside from the teachers, began to chant.

"Tankery club! Tankery club! Tankery club!"

"Now hold on, y'all. The EU has determined that 'tankery' is unsafe and thus prohibited to be practiced by our schools, in our schools."

The students all gave a collective sigh.

The principal sweatdropped. "Now, this stream is just for education purposes," he continued, "so that we can understand a sport played by the Japanese back in Japan. Now, you all ought to go back to your lessons."

Another sigh.

"Congratulations, Darjeeling," Katyusha said, sitting on Nonna's shoulders with Klara on her side and standing before the St Gloriana commander with Assam and Orange Pekoe on both sides. "That was clever!"

"Thank you, Katyusha. Your team has fought well, too."

Just then, a white Crusader skidded to a halt beside the five girls.

"Darjeeling-samaaaaaaaaaaa!" Rosehip shouted as she threw her commander's hatch open. "We did it! We won!"

"Yes, Rosehip. You did excellent today. Once again, well done."

"Thank you! Aaaaah, Miss Darjeeling praised me again, praised me agaiiiiiin~!" the redhead gushed.

"Rosehip, go ahead without me first. We'll catch up."

"Gotcha!" was the elated reply Darjeeling got. "Full ahead!"

And with that, the Crusader sped off back to base.

"That was awesome!" Kay exclaimed, hugging Miho tightly. "Good fight!"

"T-thanks…" Miho uttered out. "T-too tight…!"

"Ah, sorry, Miho!" the Sanders girl released her grasp. "All of you too, Ooarai!"

Various shouts of thanks came from all the Ooarai teams.

"I'm just glad we can have more matches," Saori sighed.

"Yeah, I agree as well," Hana added on.

"I can't believe we're in France now!" Yukari chimed in. "None of us anticipated an overseas trip of any kind, right?"

All heads of Team Anglerfish nodded.

"We're even sponsored by the Federation to come here as well," Mako said sleepily.

"Yep!" Kay grinned. "Before that international tournament takes place, the JSF wants to attract the attention of foreign teams, so all of us Japanese tankery players are sent out for exhibition matches around the world. The others are in America now, right?"

Miho nodded.

"Man, that place is nice too! Anyway, see you guys at dinner!" the Saunders commander waved at the Ooarai girls as she walked away.

Miho smiled as she turned round to look at her own school's teams. She'd have to properly thank everyone, no matter what school, at dinner later on.

Kay placed a hand on Alisa's shoulder in comfort." You did well too, Alisa. Don't fret it."

The other girl looked up, eyes gleaming.

The commander grinned. "Anyway, Alisa, Naomi, let's get our tanks back to base and work out the minor problems and stuff. I'm starting to get hungry!"

"Yes!" both girls replied as the former went off to call for towing assistance while the latter returned to her tank.

* * *

Louise walked back to her home at her usual pace, tired from school.

But her home may change soon. Her grandfather had custody over her, and he has obviously been dead for quite some time now.

Quietly walking along, she wondered what she'll do if she had to move.

_Do I need to leave town? How will I adjust? Will I be sent to another country?_

But beyond all the usual concerns, she's only got one major worry…

… _What will happen to Ace?_

Even when she was young, the young Tuckerman has always been working on the Sherman along with her grandfather, then by herself at times when the old Tuckerman wasn't available. She cleaned the tank, maintained the engine and drivetrain, touched up on paint, and the list went on. Anything anyone could do without leaving an underground garage, she did most of that, if not all.

Most importantly, Ace is kept in an operational condition, and that wasn't only limited to movement; all her weapons are very much operational and combat-ready, though they've not fired in decades. As the old ex-tank commander told his granddaughter once, "A tank that doesn't work is not a tank, it's just deadweight. Ace, kiddo, _is_ a tank."

Being captured by the Army and made inoperable, then "donated" to some museum for permanent static display, is just one concern the young Tuckerman has. The other was on legal terms; would she be charged for possessing firearms?

Deciding to only cross the bridge when the time comes, Louise concentrated on something else.

_Beautiful evening sky, isn't it?_

Reaching her nome, she noticed five police officers engaging in some kind of talk with her uncle, who had came over to stay in order to look after the girl.

"Like I told you, give us time to prepare! My dad's funeral was just yesterday, goddammit!"

"The child can stay in custody by one of the government caretakers we've allocated for her!"

"What's going on?" Louise popped in, curious.

David Tuckerman put his hands on her niece's shoulders. "The cops are going to drive you out, Louise! I'm trying to get them to give some time for us to prepare!"

The older man mouthed "Ace" silently.

That prompt wasn't necessary for the young Tuckerman.

"Hey, officers, this is a bit sudden, but we really need time to prepare." the young girl said in a calm tone. "Can't you let me pack up?"

"Well, that's not the only issue…" the leader of the group said, pulling out a piece of paper. "I haven't said this before, but we have a search warrant for potential firearm possession. A neighbor of us tipped us off about seeing some weapons."

Louise froze.

"... What?"

_That lady had never liked us despite being the unreasonable one, could it be her?_

"Sorry, we'll have to enter. This won't take much time," the cop said, stepping into the house along with the other officers.

"Wait!" she shouted. "How dare you-"

One officer held onto the young Tuckerman while the other brought David outside. "Sorry kid, this is for your safety."

"Grandpa just died, why are you all doing this to us?!" she shouted, watching the other three officers comb the house.

Of course, they just _had_ to go to the basement first.

"Wait here for me," the leader told the other two officers as he descended the stairs.

Louise could only watch anxiously and in anger as she heard the basement door open.

"Hey, found anything yet?" one officer shouted down the stairs.

"'Found anything'?! There's a fucking tank in here!"


	3. Chapter 2

_Two_

"On behalf of all students of St Gloriana's, I thank you all for a wonderful fight."

"As Saunders' commander, I say that you all are absolutely awesome!"

"On behalf of Pravda, all of you fought gallantly. You are all brave warriors."

"A-as Ooarai's commander, I thank you all for such an exciting and fulfilling match. May we all do our best in the future!"

As the four commanders bowed (Katyusha barely holding on to Nonna), everyone gave thunderous applause and cheers. Clearly, everyone is in great spirits.

"Now, all of you," Ami (Ooarai's acting instructor and current liaison of the JSF to the Europe side of the exhibition match) said, taking the stage enthusiastically, "that was a great fight! You girls must be tired by now, however, and I suppose some of you want to visit somewhere on your own. So, after discussing with the other teachers, the time from this moment up till 7 in the morning tomorrow will be a period where you are allowed to leave this camp unsupervised."

"Yay!" "Nice!" "Thank you!"

All the students cheered.

"Saunders has kindly lent us fifty of their jeeps too, so if you want to go to the nearby town, please just know how to drive."

Shouts along the lines of "Hey, we know how to drive!" came from mostly the drivers of the tanks.

"Yes, yes, of course it's no problem for you drivers! Do exercise caution and safety, however. If there's a problem, do not hesitate to call either me or any other teacher. You girls are old and responsible enough, so we trust you."

"Hai!"

"That's it from me then. Man, I'm hungry too, let's begin dinner!" the woman grinned, walking off the stage briskly over to her table.

"Itadakimasu!"

* * *

It was pretty dark now. Some girls retired to their rooms, others went around the camp doing various things, either working on their tanks or just playing games. For the rest, it was time to roam around outside of the camp.

"Man, that food filled a hole!" Kay commented as she burped loudly as she walked along with her two Saunders friends on the tarmac, towards the jeeps. "Burgers and fries are the best!"

"Personally, I like onion rings more," Alisa replied.

"Fries are okay," Naomi added on. "So are onion rings."

A sudden whizz from a jeep just next to Alisa on her right caught the three girls off-guard.

Kay laughed as she saw Darjeeling, Assam and Orange Pekoe hold on to dear life from Rosehip's insane driving.

"Hey, watch it!" Alisa shouted. "You nearly hit me!"

With a screech, the jeep drove out of the open gate, turned right and drove down the road at an incredible speed, headed towards the nearby town.

"Not sure if that girl's skilled or dangerously reckless," Naomi commented.

"Considering I was almost run over, I'll pick the latter," the twin-ponytailed girl grumbled.

"Well, it's about time we head off, right?" the blonde pointed out as they walked over to a jeep.

Just beside them was Ooarai's Team Anglerfish, climbing onto one themselves.

"Hey!" Kay waved, and the five other girls waved back.

"Hello!" "Hi!" "Hey!" "Yo!" "Hey."

"Going to town too?" the blonde asked.

"Ah, no, we're going somewhere else!" Yukari said excitedly, holding onto an open map. "There are wrecks of tanks nearby, and we're going to visit them!"

"Oh, that's nice," Alisa commented. "Should we go visit them tomorrow or something?"

"I'm fine with it," Naomi said.

"We're going to go there tomorrow, then!" Kay decided. "Anyway," she continued as the Saunders girls climbed onto the jeep, Alisa into the driver's seat, "see ya!"

The Ooarai girls waved as the Saunders girls' jeep started. Alisa turned on the light and put the vehicle in gear, stepped on the gas, and the three girls left.

"It's about time we leave, too," Miho said as Team Anglerfish climbed into the jeep. Mako started the engine and turned on the lights.

"Alright Mako, we're ready," the commander told her driver.

Nodding, the sleepy girl drove towards the gates, but instead of turning right, she turned left.

"Where now, Yukari?" the driver asked the girl sitting beside her.

The tank enthusiast looked at the map, a lit torchlight in her hand along with a compass placed on her lap. "Just keep driving along the road until I tell you to slow down, Mako."

"Mmh."

Two minutes passed.

"Stop, Mako."

The jeep slowed to a halt.

"What now?" the driver asked.

"Turn, hm, 40 degrees right off the road and keep going until I tell you to stop, please," the bubbly girl smiled.

Mako looked into the darkness in Yukari's pointed direction. "Y-you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I am. Don't worry, it'll be fine!"

"Ah, right," Hana commented, "Mako is afraid of ghosts, right?"

"Don't worry Mako, we're all with you!" Saori comforted her friend in front of her. "If any appears, we'll all defend you!"

"Yes!" Miho agreed. "We're all a team, and we stay a team!"

The driver smiled, glad she has friends like this. "Thank you."

And with that, Team Anglerfish went offroad.

The ride was somewhat bumpy, but it was absolutely tolerable. Yukari looked up from her map and compass occasionally to watch the view.

"We're almost there," she said as the jeep slowed down, then stopped.

"Hey, why did you stop?" the tank enthusiast asked, looking up from her map and noticing all the other girls staring ahead.

Feeling a little afraid now, Yukari turned her head right.

A rusted-out tank looked a few meters ahead of them, whatever remained of its turret lying the wrong side up to the hull's right.

"Oh, we're here!" she declared as everyone watched, interested in the turretless, rusty vehicle. "Ah, this is the Tiger 2! There are other tanks around here!"

"There are?" Hana asked.

"Yes! There are only five tanks here, and they're all close to each other! Drive left of the Tiger for 50 meters please, Mako."

The driver nodded and did just that, the jeep coming to a stop.

Whipping out another, bigger flashlight, Yukari turned it on and shone it to the left. The light touched on another rusted tank a short distance away, its turret still on.

"Woah, it's a Sherman," Miho commented in awe.

"Yep, M4A3! There's a M4A1 in front of it too," the tank enthusiast said, shining the light in front of the Sherman. Another Sherman greeted them, facing 60 degrees right of the direction of the M4A3. "And another!" she added on, moving the light some distance ahead of the two rusty medium tanks.

A turretless, rusted-out M4 hull was now visible, facing in the same direction as the M4A1. "The guide says it's an M4A1 as well, and there's its turret," Yukari pointed to the upside-down turret laying beside the wrecked tank.

"Bring us closer into the space, Mako."

The jeep got closer, now in between both wrecked M4A1s.

Shining the light to the right, yet another tank was revealed, its turret lying on its right. "VC Firefly!"

"The smell of iron is really strong here," Hana commented.

"Hey, Yukari, what's the story behind here?" Miho asked. "Looks like the American tanks got ambushed."

"Right-on, Miss Nishizumi!" the tank enthusiast grinned. "The story goes that during the war, that Tiger 2 ambushed and killed all these Shermans. Shows how fearsome the German tanks are!"

"How'd it blow up, then?" Saori asked.

"That's the thing; nobody knows! No indication of any fatal hits on the Tiger's hull and no records of this engagement are found so far, and if these tanks were already dead, nobody shot it! The Tiger looked like the ammunition rack in the turret just blew up!"

"Ehh? That's kinda creepy!" the ginger-haired girl commented.

"Wait…" Miho muttered, checking out the distance between the two A1s. "This space looks like it could fit two tanks, but there are only four Shermans here…"

"Hmm," Yukari thought, checking the distance. "Maybe the lead tank got hit first and the rest managed to back up enough?"

"Or another tank could be around- wait, Yukari! What is that there?"

"Huh?"

Moving the torch around, the beam rested on a concrete cross, a short distance away from the other tanks.

"Ah, that's some marking placed by someone, but nobody knows who put it there or why," Yukari commented. "Everyone assumes it's in memory of all the tankers who died here. Hey, Mako, you alright?"

The driver's face was already pale.

"Ah, alright, enough sightseeing for now, let's head back!" Yukari quickly said, not wanting to scare her friend further.

* * *

"This town is so nice!" Kay commented as the girls drove along the quiet road. "Quiet place, friendly people, and nice houses! What's there not to love?"

"It's a nice place indeed," Naomi agreed as they looked around.

Just then, the sounds of a siren filled the air. A police car drove past them, heading ahead before turning left.

"Hey, that looks interesting!" the blonde suggested. "Let's follow it! Floor it, Alisa!"

"Alright!"

The jeep followed suit, turning left too.

Noticing a sizeable crowd ahead, where the police car seems to have stopped at, Alisa slowed down and stopped.

The Saunders girls got out, curious, walking towards the crowd.

Within it, Kay noticed someone familiar. Well, four familiar faces, to be exact. "Hey! Darjeeling!"

Turning round, the St Gloriana's commander waved them over. "Come here, you girls. You may find this interesting."

Walking and pushing their way to beside Darjeeling and her girls, the three Saunders girls looked into the cordoned-off area surrounding a particular house.

Nothing.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alisa asked, confused.

"The people said that a tank was just found in the basement of this house!" Rosehip explained excitedly. "A fully-operational tank!"

This piqued Kay's interest almost instantly. "Oh? Where is it?"

"It's in the basement of this house, and the police have cordoned off the area, as you can see," Assam pointed out. "They say it's a tank from the Second World War."

"Ooh!" the Saunders tank commander got even more interested. "Perhaps it can be used in tankery someday!"

Orange Pekoe smiled gently. "The government has banned tankey here for the locals due to supposed safety issues."

"What?" Naomi raised an eyebrow. "We've been doing this sport for _decades,_ how is it dangerous?"

Before Alisa could join into the conversation, a few police officers approached the girls.

"Hey," one police officer who knew Japanese spoke kindly. "You few are the tankers from Japan, right?"

Both St Gloriana's and Saunders girls nodded.

"We may need help identifying this one down in the basement, so would you please follow me?"

"Really?!" Rosehip asked excitedly.

"We would be happy to assist," Darjeeling replied elegantly, a small, polite smile on her face.

"Please follow us, then," the cop said as he lifted the cordoning tape up for the girls to pass through. Once all seven girls are inside, he lead them to the front door of the house and entered.

Inside the house were more police officers, most standing guard. Two of them were interrogating both a man and a girl around the age of the Japanese girls themselves, and she in particular looked distress.

The girl shouted in French, clearly both upset and hostile.

Getting up quickly, she made a sprint to some stairs that presumably led to the basement. Or, perhaps tried to, because she slipped and fell facefirst barely a step off the chair she was sitting on.

As police officers rushed over to her concernedly, Alisa was surprised when Kay rushed to aid as well. "Kay!"

Louise felt a hand grab her arm.

"Hey, are you okay?" a female voice spoke in Japanese.

Looking up, she noticed a familiar blonde girl dressed in a casual shirt and shorts, smiling at the young Tuckerman herself. For some reason, that infectious, bright smile soothed her.

At that moment, she realized where she had seen her before; on the tankery stream just a few hours earlier.

"Ah, right, I don't know French, heheh…" the Japanese girl muttered to herself sheepishly.

"No, I can understand you perfectly," Louise replied in Japanese.

All the seven other girls gasped in surprise. "You know Japanese?" Kay asked.

"Mmh. I had Japanese lessons as a kid. English is my mother tongue while French is what I typically use here."

"Wow, three languages!" Darjeeling commented as she walked over, the other girls following. "A surprise indeed!"

"What's your name?" the Saunders commander asked, helping the American-French girl up.

"Louise. Louise Tuckerman," she replied as she got up. It looks like she had not suffered any major injury.

"Oh, nice to meet you then, Louise-san!" Kay grinned.

Louise smiled, even if it was a small smile. "You're that tank commander from that American-like school, right?"

"Yep! The name's Kay."

"Darjeeling here." "I'm Alisa." "Orange Pekoe." "My name is Assam." "Alisa's my name." "I'm Naomi." "Rosehip here!"

The young Tuckerman bowed politely. "Nice to meet you all. This is my uncle," she said, pointing to David.

David could only smile awkwardly and wave.

"Now, sorry to pop in," the police officer that could speak Japanese earlier chimed in, "but you girls should head to the basement now."

Louise's mood visibly soured. "Can… can I accompany them? I know this tank best."

The cop returned to discuss with his colleagues in French before returning to the girls. He spoke in French.

The young Tuckerman nodded. "He said yes. I'll lead the way."

The Japanese girls followed the girl down the steps. Kay was in her usual casual mood, hands in her pockets. Alisa had an indifferent look on her face. Naomi was serious. And the St Gloriana girls were all acting the same; smiling softly, politely following.

Of course, except for Rosehip. Her excitement level was over the top, and it obviously shows.

Louise opened the door of the basement and stepped inside.

Although the rather-large room was dimly lit by only three old headlamps, everyone could clearly see the tank, surrounded by policemen rummaging through things and guarding the vehicle.

The Saunders girls and Rosehip gasped.

"Sherman!" Alisa uttered as she watched in wide wonder, observing the design of the medium tank. "76.2 milimeter M1 gun with muzzle brake, HVSS!"

"It's an M4A3E8," Louise explained, her face filled with pride that shone through her worries.

"An Easy-Eight?!" the twintailed Saunders girls gasped, not hiding her excitement. "Seriously?!"

The young Tuckerman nodded, pleased that the girls identified the American tank quickly. "This is my grandfather's tank," she went on, walking towards the tank, followed by the others.

Alisa practically sprinted towards it and touched the hull, almost about to drool. "We don't have this variant back in Japan! This is incredible! This baby's so well-kept, clean as hell! Oh?"

The twintailed girl felt a fairly large hole on the tank's left side of the front hull armour plate. Sticking a finger inside, she realized that it went through the armour entirely.

Louise ran her hand over the spade symbol drawn on the tank's hull. "Her name is Ace of Spades. Or just Ace in short. My grandfather commanded her during the war, and saved her after, keeping her in a running condition too."

"Wait, this thing's running?!" the Saunders twintailed girl turned around excitedly, looking up from her gaze on the tank.

"Yep! Grandpa worked on the tank himself before the rest of the family stepped in, and when everyone left I came in to help," the young Tuckerman shared, beaming with pride. "When he became less mobile, everything Ace-related is handled by me myself!"

"Wow, that's really nice!" Kay grinned, looking at the tank's name scrawled on the left side of the main gun barrel. "And it's running, too! Impressive!"

"She's been through some fights," Darjeeling noted, observing the many projectile marks as well as the large scar on the left of the turret, beneath the track armour.

"Yes, she has," Louise went on, proud. "My grandpa wants to keep the damage visible as a way to tell the story of Ace, but I wouldn't mind if most are fixed. He also says that a tank stops being a tank the moment it becomes a non-running museum piece, and that's why we want to keep her running!"

Her face faltered. "That's why I don't want them to take her away. They'll donate her to some museum who clearly won't give a damn about her condition, and if they do they'll make her a static display for 'saving cost'; Ace is much better off under a Tuckerman, and Uncle David and I are the only ones left. On top of that, I really want to be with this tank, it's been with me since the day I was born…"

"Yeah, that's true," Alisa said rather dejectedly. "With what they'll do and with so many running Shermans around, they'll just push this one into a museum podium or something and leave. That's how they do it in Europe most of the time, tanks like that one Tiger in England are few and far between."

Kay watched the American-French girl sigh. She wanted to do something, but what could she do?

And at that moment, an idea popped up in her head.

"Hey, Louise! Are you interested in tankery?"

The young Tuckerman's face lit up. "Yes! My grandpa's a tanker, my mom's a tanker before the EU made tankery illegal here, and I want to be one too! Not to continue the name reputation, that's just a side benefit, but to have fun with friends!"

The last four words made the Saunders commander's face light up like a Christmas tree. "Glad to hear it! Naomi, can our team have a new Sherman?"

The short-haired girl was surprised. "Yes, but you want to…"

"Of course!" the blonde grinned. "And to add on," she turned to face Louise and put her hands on the other girl's shoulder, "you! Want to transfer to Saunders and join our team?"

The surprised young Tuckerman looked at Kay, completely surprised at the offer. This was completely and pleasantly surprised; Ace could be saved and this was the opportunity for her dream of becoming a tanker in tankery.

The answer was simple. "Yes, yes! Thank you!" she cried, hugging the Saunders commander and tears starting to roll down her eyes.

"There, there, no need to cry," Kay comforted the girl. "Now, this may take some time, but let us sort it out, okay?"

"Sure!"

Darjeeling smiled at the scene before her. "There's this old Chinese proverb; 'Fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be.'"

* * *

"Hey, did you hear?! They found a tank in the nearby town!" a student said excitedly during breakfast.

"I heard that it's a Sherman, and it's one of the good variants with a 76 mm!" another said.

"What's more, it seems like Kay is interested in getting it for Saunders!" a third one joined in.

"Really?!"

The whole mess hall of the camp was abuzz with the news that spread like wildfire overnight, and the Anglerfish Team had heard of it too.

"Could you believe it?" Yukari commented. "A Sherman found in the basement of a house! That's not something that happens everyday! What's more, it seems like it's kept in a running condition!"

"Really?" Saori leaned in, curious. "How did it get in there?"

"No idea!" was the reply from the tank enthusiast. "I don't know much of the details, but I heard that Kay and Darjeeling were there!"

"Really?" Hana joined in as Mako sat up from her little nap.

"We can ask them when we meet them," Miho suggested. "That being said…"

Team Anglerfish looked around.

"... we haven't seen them yet."

"Odd," Saori commented. "Since we're repairing our tanks proper today, I thought the commanders would want to be around to observe or help out."

* * *

"So tired…" Alisa moaned, keeping her eyes on the countryside road as she drove the jeep back to base. In the back seats, Kay was fast asleep, and Naomi was struggling to keep awake.

The St Gloriana girls have probably already reached camp, thanks to Rosehip's driving.

Throughout the past night, all of them had been up negotiating with various people; the Saunders University High School school committee back in Japan, French officials, David Tuckerman, and the list goes on. But in one night, they did it; one M4A3E8 Sherman has been "bought" by the school tankery team and and a Louise Tuckerman from France is going to transfer to Saunders.

At the moment, Louise is fast asleep, having stayed up the entire night along with them. After she wakes up, however, she'll be packing; she'll be bringing her tank and joining everyone at the camp tomorrow morning.

Why the rush, one may ask? This is because they needed a one-day buffer to sort out and finish the logistics before heading back to Japan; all the Japanese girls are heading back two days later.

Finally arriving at the camp, Alisa turned the jeep in, headed to the jeep parking areas and stopped.

"Hey, Kay, Naomi, we're back," she said tiredly.

Naomi nodded in acknowledgement and nudged the blonde girl beside her. No response.

She nudged again, this time a little harder. Kay was fast asleep.

"Help me carry her back to the room," the short-haired girl said. The twintailed girl nodded.

It took a while, but eventually they managed to carry Kay together up the stairs of the dormitory, now just a corridor walk away from the room.

"Hey, it's them!"

A group of Saunders girls ran up towards them.

"Vice-commander!" they greeted before noticing the commander. "Is Commander okay?"

"Yeah, she's just tired," Alisa yawned. "Me too… Hey, we had a really long night, so we'll be resting for the rest of today. See ya squirts tomorrow," she smiled.

"Yes ma'am," the girls waved off as they walked away, down the stairs.

A few minutes later, they finally reached their room. The other two girls already fast asleep, Alisa climbed into her bed, finally able to sleep.

She was already knocked out before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

_Alisa opened her eyes, her vision a blur._

"_W… wha…"_

_As she regained consciousness, the twintailed girl's vision cleared, and she realized that she wasn't in the dormitory room._

_Despite not being fully-awake yet, Alisa found herself in the turret of a Sherman mounted with the 76.2 mm M1 cannon. However, this wasn't her M4A1 that she was extremely familiar in; in fact, it doesn't look like any of the Saunders tanks, being so… dirty._

"_Ah, you're awake."_

_The twintailed girl was fully jolted back into consciousness, looking at the young man who wasn't there a moment ago sitting on the commander's chair. He looked American, his dirty uniform looks like one of those from the Second World War, but he spoke in perfect Japanese._

"_Wh-who are you?" Alisa asked hesitantly._

"_Relax, this is just a dream," the man comforted the young girl thoughtfully. "My name is Joshua Tuckerman, but please, call me Josh."_

"Tuckerman"? Where have I…

"_Wait," the memories in her head finally clicking, "your last name is Tuckerman, you say?"_

"_Yes, I said that," the strange, yet somehow comforting man replied._

"_But- wait, isn't that girl-"_

"_Oh, Louise?" the man replied casually as he whipped up a cigarette that lit up by itself. "She's my granddaughter, nothing wrong with that."_

"_Wait, you're her grandfather? No," Alisa realized with a drop in her gut, "but she said you're-"_

"_-dead?" completed Josh as he took a puff. "Yeah, I kicked the bucket a few days ago. Got a problem with that?"_

_Alisa was starting to tremble._

"_Relax, kid, it's a dream," the guy said again, starting to look a little exasperated. "I didn't pull you here for nothing, too; why not pop open the loader's hatch and peek out?"_

"_H-huh?"_

"_Yeah, you heard me. You're a tanker that commands an M4A1, no?"_

"_Yes, but how did you know that?"_

"_I have access to your memories, Alisa. This is a dream, after all," he shrugged._

_For some reason, the twintailed girl could feel a connection between herself and the man._

"_So, are you going to pop the hatch up and take a look?"_

_The young girl decided to test something. "What if I don't?" she asked nervously, forcing a grin, the type that made her look pretty bratty back in reality._

_Josh looked mildly surprised, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't, you'll never wake up again. Considering the fact that you can see and interact with me perfectly, is that sufficient?"_

_Alisa's face fell. "I'm sorry, I'm just kidding!" she yelled, jumping up and pushing the loader's hatch open._

_Sticking her head out, the smell of burning metal and gunpowder filled her nose as a wind blew past the grey sky. Looking ahead, she noticed a burning, turretless Tiger 2 where the gun of the tank she was on was pointing straight at._

"_I was kidding about that. Sorry if I spooked you," Tuckerman said, resting his head on his hand._

_Looking around, Alisa realized that the Sherman's turret was pointing about 110 degrees to the hull's right._

_Then the familiar barrel, complete with half-barreled camouflage and a false muzzle brake, finally jogged her memory enough._

"_This is Ace!" she exclaimed._

"_Right-on! Specifically, this is my tank in the afternoon of 24th August, 1944," Tuckerman commented, looking at the destroyed Tiger._

_Alisa focused on the German tank again. "This is a major aspect of your life, I take it?"_

"_Of course," was the reply. "On this day, 28 people were killed in this battle. 23 were killed because of that one tank there."_

"_Twenty-three?" the girl asked, confused._

"_Count the Shermans."_

_Looking around again, Alisa noticed four other Shermans in the vicinity. The closest one to the Tiger had its turret blown off, smoke visible from where she stood. Three other tanks, all in a single line, were also present. The last two looked okay but were deathly still, the one in front of the other turned 60 degrees to the right of the one at the rear. A little bit in front of those tanks was another Sherman facing the same direction as the last tank of the line, but with its turret blown off, flames visible._

_The girl felt her gut drop again. "Oh god… The Germans set up an ambush, didn't they? Wait. Four tanks, that's 20 people."_

"_Nineteen. That one there, Pluck," Tuckerman explained, pointing at the Sherman away from the three tanks, "is a VC Firefly."_

"_Okay, so nineteen. That's four people short-" Alisa thought before freezing, turning even more pale as she stared at Josh._

_The tank commander stared back. "Look inside."_

_Slowly, the girl bent down, bringing her eyes back into the tank she was on. The sight that greeted her shook her deep into her core._

_Alisa put her hand over her mouth to stop a scream._

_Blood. Blood everywhere._

_The body of the loader just lay beside her, his body bleeding, likely full of shrapnel._

_She could make out the dead gunner's body on the other side of the gun breech. She didn't dare check on the driver and machine gunner._

_Then, when she looked at the commander's chair, she watched the standing figure's lower body._

_It was bleeding as well._

_Alisa couldn't take it anymore._

_She screamed, lying on the turret floor in the fetal position and facing the rear of the turret.._

"_I'VE SEEN ENOUGH! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!"_

_She continued screaming for a few more seconds, not daring to open her eyes._

_Then, she felt something change, the cruel, dark atmosphere of war lifting away._

_Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned around._

_She was still in Ace, but her interior was now completely clean. No sign of blood or dead bodies anywhere, and no sign of Josh anywhere either._

_The girl could make out the driver's seat as she faced the front of the turret and got up. This means that Ace's turret was facing directly forward._

_Noticing the empty commander's chair, Alisa felt the urge to climb out of it. Getting under the commander's hatch, she noticed that it was open._

_She stuck her head out, and found herself in a familiar room._

This is the basement…

"_Hey, dad!" she heard a young girl's voice coming from behind. "How's Ace's engine going?"_

"_It's almost done, my dear," an older Josh's voice replied as Alisa turned around. There, behind the tank, were the father-and-daughter pair, bent over the engine bay. The child watched as her father adjusted a few more things inside the bay, before finally getting up._

"_Alright, she's done!" the older Tuckerman declared. "Selena, you can start the engine!"_

_The young Tuckerman in the room nodded excitedly, hopping off the tank and running towards the open driver's hatch, promptly hopping in._

They don't seem to be able to see me, _Alisa noted._

_With a roar, the Ford G-AA V8 engine roared to life, the twintailed girl feeling the vibrations of the engine._

_It felt like it was brand-new._

"_You did it, daddy!" Selena cheered as she got out of the tank and hugged her father. "Can I use Ace for Tankery when I grow up?"_

"_No, sweetie; Ace is Daddy's treasure, you see."_

"_Hey, you two, it's time for dinner!" a female voice called from upstairs._

"_Let's go, Daddy! Mommy will get angry if we don't hurry up!"_

"_Heh, she certainly will!"_

_Alisa smiled as she watched the pair head up the stairs and out of sight. It was heartwarming, to say the least._

_And comforting, given the previous scene._

"_Hello!"_

_The twintailed girl jumped, turning her head down beside the right of the tank._

_An older girl that resembles Selena, probably the same age as Alisa herself, smiled. "Sorry for scaring you! I just wanna tell you I won my first tankery competition earlier today! It was great!"_

_Alisa smiled, the cheerfulness of the other girl rubbing off her. "It definitely is. That feeling will likely stay with you for life, you know."_

"_It's a pity Dad won't let me use Ace though, but I understand," Selena continued. "Ace is his baby, after all! And even though she's a Sherman, she's part of the Tuckerman family too!" she grinned, petting the hull._

_Alisa grinned. "That's great!"_

"_Oh, it's almost time for dinner, gotta go!" the daughter of Josh waved, briskly walking towards and up the stairs, again out of sight._

_The twintailed girl stopped waving back, a smile still on her face._

Man, this girl's infectious.

_Noticing sobbing, Alisa turned down to find an old man leaning against the front armour of Ace. In his hand was a stack of cards of sorts._

_Somehow, Alisa knew that this was Josh Tuckerman himself._

_Curious about the cards, she squinted her eyes, reading the text written on it._

"_You are respectfully invited to the funeral of Selena Tuckerman-"_

_The twintailed girl gasped._

Seriously?!

_Tuckerman pulled out a picture of his daughter, now depicted as being a few years older._

_Alisa could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold._

_Quietly, she closed her eyes and recited a small prayer, something she had rarely done. It wouldn't have helped, since it was probably a few years too late, but better late than never._

"_And Ace looks just as clean as ever!"_

_Alisa opened her eyes in time to see a new young girl jumping off the hull of the Sherman as an even-older Joshua Tuckerman, now with a walking stick, stood up and turned around._

"_Yes, she is," he chuckled as the both of them looked at Ace, not noticing the foreign girl._

"_I want to play tankery when I grow up!" the young Tuckerman exclaimed excitedly._

_The old Tuckerman chuckled. "Go for it if you can! Just like your mom, eh?"_

"_Yeah, it's fun! But isn't it dangerous, grandpa?"_

"_Now now, that's a different story. You see, those tanks in tankery have been modified to be safe to both their own crews and other crews. Even injuries in the sport are rare as hell."_

"_Oh…" the young Tuckerman acknowledged. "I heard from my friends that tanks are for girls, and they don't believe that you're a tanker. All the boys who like tanks are teased, too."_

"_Well, that's what everyone's forgetting these days, kiddo. Always remember: those tanks are crewed by girls and are used in a safe sport today, but all of them were once weapons meant to kill people, manned by men who fought for their country. That's a fact that everyone seems to forget these days."_

_Alisa blinked. Perhaps this was why she's having this high-lucid dream._

He's right. Before tankery, these tanks were built to kill in wars, commanded by men willing to die for their country. With all those talk about tanks being solely for girls, this really is a stark reminder for everyone, me included…

"_I'll not forget it!" Louise beamed._

"_Oh, will you?" the old man chuckled, rubbing her hair. "Your mom did end up remembering, though, so maybe you will."_

"_Can Ace be modified for tankery?"_

"_Yes, I don't see why not."_

"_Can you let me use Ace then?"_

"_Ah, no. Funny, your mom asked the same thing too."_

"_Aww…" she pouted. "But I understand, grandpa. Ace means a lot to you, right?"_

"_Yes," he rubbed the young girl's hair again, "she does. Along with your mom."_

_Alisa watched the young girl smile at her grandfather, and she smiled as well._

"_Hey, how long more do you want to stand there? Get down!"_

_Alisa blinked. The grandfather-granddaughter pair were gone._

"_You, Alisa! I can see you!"_

"_Eh?!" she looked towards the source in front of Ace. It was an even-older Josh Tuckerman._

"_Hey, how older can you possibly get now?" Alisa asked, her bratty tone showing._

"_This is my 'final form', whatever you call it. Come on out, I have something to tell you."_

"_Yes sir," she replied, getting out of the commander's hatch and jumping off the Sherman._

"_I owe you Saunders girls a thanks for both saving my tank and giving Louise a chance to pursue her dreams," the old Tuckerman began as Alisa walked to him._

"_Eh? You should've picked Kay then, she's the commander and made that decision," the twintailed girl pointed out._

"_I would, if she had touched Ace."_

"_Wait, so you picked me just because I came in physical contact with your tank?"_

"_Well, it isn't an option, since you were the only one that did that. And talking to my granddaughter solves nothing, right? Besides, _Vice-Commander, _you helped with the negotiations too, along with that Naomi girl as well."_

_Alisa recalled the negotiating they did last night. "Yeah, you're right. No thanks needed, really, we're glad we can help," she smiled, humbled in the presence of a war veteran._

_The old man smiled. "You can go soon, but one more thing."_

"_Hm? What is it?"_

_Joshua Tuckerman looked at Alisa straight in the eye. "Look after Louise for me. Please."_

_Alisa nodded. "What about Ace?"_

"_Ah, Ace is just as important, but my granddaughter has capable hands," the old man grinned. "As long as she's still alive and as far as my tank's part of your team, Ace will always be in great hands."_

"_Gotcha," Alisa grinned too. "And your granddaughter herself's in great hands too! We won't disappoint you, that's a promise."_

_The old Tuckerman nodded as the garage doors opened, blinding light filling into the basement. "Thank you, Alisa, and take care…"_

* * *

Alisa opened her eyes, now wide awake.

Sitting up, she looked around.

She's back in her room.

"Hey, you alright?" Kay called out from her bed. "Bad dream?"

The twintailed girl relaxed. "No, not really. Just… unexpected."

"Well, you better clean up and head down to the mess hall," Naomi said, getting out of the bathroom. "It's close to dinnertime already, and I think literally everyone's anticipating us and our story."

Looking at the room clock, Alisa realized that the short-haired girl wasn't kidding. "Ah, I'll be ready in a few."

"Great!" Kay replied cheerfully in English. "Want us to wait for you or should we head down first?" she asked, back to Japanese.

"Oh, you guys go ahead. I'll be fine," the twintailed girl smiled.

"Okay then, see ya!" the blonde waved as she got out of the room, Naomi behind her.

Alisa sighed and slumped down once the door shut. "What a helluva dream…"


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello, author here. Sorry for the delay, I was just not feeling it.**

**Anyway, in this chapter, I'm introducing dialogues in different languages. Here are examples; none for Japanese, (these for English), [these for Russian], {and these for French}. Of course, I'll introduce other languages when the time comes, and I will inform you guys before the chapter starts.**

**Ah, also, you may find references of varying kinds dotted in my story, including but not limited to movies, fanfics and even real life. Which reminds me...**

**I know this may not reach the intended recipient, but Civilis, if you can hear this, I really enjoy your GuP fanfic "Always Advancing"! I know it's unlikely, but I really hope you'll finish it and give the story a proper closure.**

_Three_

"Commander, the KV-2 is repaired!" Nina and Alina announced together, standing in front of the newly-repaired heavy tank.

Katyusha was, of course, all smiles. "Good work to all those that repaired Katyusha's favorite tank. Katyusha will hereby call those that repaired the KV-2 miracle workers!"

Elated cheers came from inside the garage the Russian tank was driven out of.

"As for the driver who crashed the KV-2 during transportation…" the short Pravda girl continued, turning her gaze to a timid girl, "Katyusha orders you to potato duty for seven days after we return to the schoolship."

"[Is such a harsh punishment really that necessary?]" Klara asked in Russian. "[That was a genuine mistake, and that girl looks terrified to death.]"

"[Katyusha's mind is made up now, there's no changing it,]" replied Nonna in Russian before switching back to Japanese. "Klara said that a blunder like yours has much more severe consequences back in her hometown's school."

The poor girl was about to burst into tears. She had genuinely tried to steer the KV-2 away from that rock, but being inexperienced, she failed, and the tank tipped over, managing to damage the turret and somehow the short gun barrel too.

The Pravda commander, however, had a sudden change of heart. "However, since the great Katyusha is in good spirits today; being magnanimous, Katyusha is willing to overlook this incident as long as you are willing to promise that such an incident will not happen again."

"I promise, Commander! I promise!" the girl quickly responded.

"That settles it, then," the Pravda commander concluded. "It's about time for dinner too, and Katyusha is hungry! I will head over for food. Nonna, Klara, after me."

"Yes, Katyusha," Nonna responded, following the short girl as the transport driver sighed in relief.

"[Katyusha's getting soft these days,]" Klara noted, "[is everything alright?]"

"[Someone told the commander discreetly that she should be nicer so that everyone will like her,]" the vice-commander replied.

"[Who has the audacity to say that?]" the Russian girl commented somewhat angrily. "[Though, it's honestly heartening seeing Katyusha being so nice, Nonna…]"

"[Agreed, Klara…]" the Russian-speaking Japanese girl said, smiling softly.

"I told you two to speak Japanese!" Katyusha popped into the conversation, annoyed. "Klara, aren't you fluent in Japanese?"

"[What?]" was the reply from the blonde, feigning ignorance.

"Never mind…"

"[Katyusha is cute when she's angry,]" the Russian went on.

"What? Nonna, translate!"

"She says that you're an admirable person, Katyusha," was the reply from the lying girl.

"Hmph!" was the response from the short girl. "I'm glad she sees me that way. The great Katyusha definitely has great followers such as her and you, Nonna!"

"We thank you for your praise, Katyusha-sama."

* * *

"(Hel-lo!)" Kay called out in English, waving to everyone else in the mess hall as she and Naomi entered the mess hall.

Immediately, students from all the different schools swarmed around them.

"Is there really a tank in the town?!"

"What will happen to it?!"

"Did you see it?!" Yukari asked excitedly. "What tank is it?!"

"Can it really move?!" Rosehip asked just as excitedly.

"Rosehip?" Naomi raised an eyebrow. "But you were there too."

The crowd went silent as half the students turned their gaze towards the St Gloriana girl.

"Eheh, I wanted to keep it a secret to lay off attention…" the redhead muttered before she herself was swamped by students as well.

"Well, as to all your questions," Kay addressed the crowd still with her, "yes, there's a tank in town."

Excited mumbles were audible.

"But," she continued, "everything will be kept a secret until tomorrow, okay?"

Sighs were heard.

"Oh come on, it's just till tomorrow!" she grinned.

"Can't you tell us now, though?" Yukari pleaded.

"Hmm… Perhaps I can just tell you, but can you keep a secret?"

Akiyama's face brightened immediately. "Really? What is it?"

Leaning in, the blonde girl whispered the details into the curly-haired girl's ear.

The latter's face lit up like a Christmas tree in excitement. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!"

"Shh," Kay giggled. "Keep it to yourself, Oddball."

"Ehh," Yukari blushed, remembering her infiltration at Saunders some time ago. She likes that nickname she has from Kay, however. "Sure thing, a promise is a promise!"

Akiyama put a finger over her lips and smiled.

The blonde nodded approvingly.

"Alright everyone, back to your seats!" Chono Ami announced from the stage, already having heard everything from Darjeeling. "A secret's a secret, and you'll all find out tomorrow. Now come on, you all must be hungry!"

Just in time, Alisa walked in, uncharacteristically quiet.

"(What's wrong, Alisa?) You look like you've seen a ghost!" Kay commented.

"U-uh… No, nothing's wrong, don't worry!" was the reply as Alisa looked at her set of food ahead of her blankly.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, suspicious and concerned. "You sure 'bout that?"

"Yeah, positive," the twintailed girl smiled, looking up at the Saunders commander.

* * *

Louise put in her grandfather's photo album, looked at it for a few moments and closed her luggage shut. Finally, she was done with her packing.

Thinking about the things that have happened overnight, she was glad that such an opportunity is possible. Finally, she is able to participate in tankery.

That being said, that doesn't stop her from feeling just a tad bit reluctant to leave. This house has been her home for entire life, after all.

Dinner, made by her uncle as a "goodbye meal" of sorts, consists of escargot de bourgogue, a favorite French dish of hers, tomato soup, a plate of steak done medium-rare and, to end it off, chocolate mousse. Probably the best meal she had eaten in a while, David being a great cook only helped out.

Speaking of him, the older Tuckerman had went out for an errand or something.

Heading out of her room and down the stairs, she made her way around her home, looking at everything for what would be the last time in years. The house was quiet again; after negotiating with no small part thanks to the girls from Japan, the policemen had all left hours ago. Probably helped that the house will have its deed under David as well, as per said negotiations.

Finally entering the basement, she looked at Ace, intending to check the Sherman over before morning came.

_She'll finally be outside for the first time in decades, huh._

"(Thought you'd be down there,)" a voice spoke in English. "(Final preparations?)"

The young Tuckerman turned to face her uncle. "(Oh, you're back. Yep! She hasn't run for a while now, so I thought I'd give her a little check. Oh, and fill her up, of course.)"

"(Dealt with,)" the older man grinned, holding up a full tank of petrol. "(I went to the gas station.)"

"(That's great! Thanks!)" Louise smiled, taking the tank. "(I'll fill her up later, after I ready her up.)"

"(Actually, maybe you should go to bed early, do the preparations tomorrow,)" her uncle suggested. "(I'll wake you up.)"

"(Aww, I want to pull an all-nighter…)" the young Tuckerman moaned.

"(No, you should be resting,)" David insisted. "(I'll help you out in the morning if you do, alright?)"

Louise looked at her uncle with both eagerness and surprise. "(Really?)"

"(Hey, you forgot I worked on Ace myself, along with your mom and grandpa!)" he chuckled.

"(Heh, kinda!)" was the reply. "(Haven't seen you work on her before, sure those things didn't get rusty?)"

"(Oh, is that a challenge?)" David grinned. "(4 am, okay?)"

"(Deal,)" the young girl grinned as well. "(As long as I go to bed early?)"

"(As long as you go to bed early. Oh, one more thing, here's something for you,)" David continued as he took out a large envelope.

Louise recognized it immediately. "(Wait, is that…)"

"(Yep, your grandpa's favorite record disc. The one you loved listening to as a kid. Found it yesterday actually.)"

"(I haven't seen or heard that in ages!)" the girl commented excitedly. "(Hold on, are you really giving this to me?)"

"(Yep, why not? You'll have more use for it than me, and I bet you want to listen to this. What was your favorite track again, 'The Army Goes Rolling Along' or something?)"

"(That's the current US variation,") Louise corrected, taking the envelope. ("Down here it's 'The Caissons Go Rolling Along', same tune more or less but with different lyrics. Always preferred Caissons over the newer one, especially this version,") she went on, running her hand over the envelope.

("Well, you gotta find a record player for that either way, couldn't find your grandpa's anywhere. Probably broken, that's why he stopped playing discs like this in the first place.")

"(Ah, bummer. Either way, thanks Uncle! Let me worry about getting a player after I get on board the schoolship. For now, I'll pack it in and get some rest, but I don't think I'll sleep while thinking about tomorrow, I'm excited as hell,)" she grinned.

David smiled and rubbed her niece's hair. "(Thought as much.)"

* * *

"Woah, there's really a lot of people here," Kay commented as she scanned the crowd, now larger than the last time around the Tuckerman residence. This time, news crews were all lined up with their vans and equipment, either setting up or having already set up, their journalists and reporters already at work.

"There're even live broadcasts," Naomi commented. "Wow."

"Well, it's not everyday that a tank's found in a basement," Alisa pointed out, holding a clipboard. "We should've brought the M4A1 here, would've been good publicity for Saunders. Showing your skin wouldn't be as effective," she added on, grinning, watching the blonde as she waved at a few guys, her shirt open and revealing her figure, American-flag-styled bra and all.

Naturally, the boys looked away, blushing as Naomi giggled.

"Hey, hey," Kay turned around, grinning, and winked. "It works well!"

"Hello, are you the girls from Saunders University High School?" a Japanese reporter asked, walking over with a camera behind.

Arisa quickly blocked Kay and frantically did up her shirt, with the Saunders commander mildly protesting. "No no no no no, not like this!" the shorter girl hissed quietly.

"Yes, we are from Saunders," Naomi replied to the reporter. "My name is Naomi, this is our vice-commander Alisa, and this is our commander Kay," the short-haired girl pointed as she introduced her friends to the media.

Alisa, done by then, turned around and smiled, while Kay waved. "Yo!"

"Pleased to meet you all. Commander, what are your thoughts about these events?" the reporter asked as she brought the microphone to the blonde, the camera following.

"It's great! Saunders is pleased to accept both a new tank and a new member into the team!" was the reply from Kay, boisterous as ever. "I'm sure Louise will have fun!"

"I see. Thank you for your words," the reporter smiled before leaving, joining the crowd.

Meanwhile in the basement, Louise was doing her final checks. She had already cleared Ace; rather, this time it was her luggage that she was concerned with.

"(Yep, everything's here,)" she declared, closing and leaving her luggage in the area where the loader would be in. "(Uncle! Are you done filling her up yet?)" she shouted out from the open loader's hatch.

"(It's done!)" was the reply the young Tuckerman got. "(Petrol's in! Ace is good to go!)"

"(Gotcha!)"

Louise got out and shut the loader's hatch, locking it securely. Getting off the turret, she unlocked and retracted the barrel rest of the 76.2 mm gun, before opening up the driver's hatch, hopping in just to turn on the electronics.

The dials lit up, just as they should.

_Electronics, check._

Climbing back out, she went on to the turret again, entered through the commander's hatch and got into the gunner's seat.

She grabbed the hydraulic traverse controls.

The turret, with a bit of squeaking before the newly-added oil lubricated its gears, turned 10 degrees left, before the young Tuckerman turned it 20 degrees right, then returned it to the center position.

_Power traverse, check._

She grabbed the manual traverse controls and spun the wheel around.

She saw and felt the turret move.

_Manual traverse, check,_ she thought as she brought the turret facing perfectly forward.

Grabbing the elevation controls, she raised the gun up a few degrees before lowering it down to 0 degrees of elevation.

_Elevation, check._

"(All okay in there?)" David shouted from outside.

"(Yeah, it's fine!)" she replied as she poked out of the commander's hatch, shutting it tightly. "(It's about time now. Can we open the doors now?)"

"(Sure!)" the older Tuckerman grinned as he went over to the shutter doors.

Louise slid down the driver's hatch, shutting and securing it once she was seated.

She looked out of the sights. Her uncle had reached the controls of the large shutter and had already hit the necessary buttons, the door that has not moved for quite some time slowly opening, its squeaks audible from even inside the Sherman.

_And finally…_

The young Tuckerman pulled the choke and turned the ignition.

The sounds of the starter motor cranking the Ford GAA were clearly audible for a few seconds, before being replaced by the roar of the V8 engine itself.

Louise smiled.

_Engine, check._

The crowd had heard the shutter doors open and the start of an engine, and would have crowded around the basement doors if the policemen around had not restrained them, keeping them a distance away.

"Oh, I hear it!" Naomi noted, watching the driveway that ran beside the house, waiting for the tank to appear.

'"Ooh, this is exciting!" Kay commented eagerly. "That's definitely not the sound of a radial engine!"

"The Easy-Eight uses a Ford GAA V8 engine," Alisa commented, just as eager to see the Sherman in action.

The squeaking of the doors now stopped, the idle sounds from inside the basement remained.

A few moments later, the unmistakable sound of the engine revving was heard by everyone.

Everyone wanted to get a better view, phones in hand. The rolling cameras had zoomed in, eager to see the tank in the basement roll out.

The front of the barrel poked out first, then the front of the hull, and finally the turret as the Sherman climbed up the slope at a slow speed. The tank's details were still hidden by the trees on the house, however, leaving the onlookers with its silhouette from the left.

"Oh, there she is!" the Saunders commander pointed excitedly.

"Man, she really wasn't lying," Alisa commented in awe.

As the tank finished its short climb, it turned left, the V8 engine revving at a higher rpm as it moved, now facing the crowd.

As it now proceeded out down the driveway, the trees gave way, sunlight beaming down onto the decades-old medium tank.

For the first time in 70 years, Ace was finally out in the open. Her battle scars were visible to everyone, despite the rest of the tank having a relatively new coat of paint, the single spade logo above the right headlight proudly visible for everyone to see.

People cheered and clapped as the M4A3E8 reached the street. From inside, Louise engaged the left brake.

The Sherman turned, the name "Ace" on its barrel now visible to the crowd.

Per the directions of the aiding policeman in front, the young Tuckerman stopped the Sherman outside the Tuckerman residence as the three girls walked towards the tank.

Well, one girl, at least. The blonde and pigtailed girl practically sprinted over.

The driver's hatch opened and a head sheepishly poked out. "She's out," Louise told the Saunders girls. "Told ya she'll run."

"Yep, and that's great!" Kay grinned. "Now, we'll need to do some preliminary inspections, alright? Nothing much, just to make sure she's running well.

The young Tuckerman nodded, getting out of the tank.

"Alisa, Naomi, let's go," the blonde directed as the three girls began their checks, Alisa whipping out a pen.

The crowd had gotten much closer, but the policemen held them back enough not to disturb the Saunders girls.

"(Quite the attention we're getting, huh,)" David commented as he met up with his niece at the front door.

"(Yeah,)" she grinned as reporters walked towards them.

"{Hello, we would like to interview you two,}" one spoke in French. "{How did you guys get this vehicle?}"

"(Is there any story to this British tank?)" another asked in English.

"(Wait, what did you say?)" Louise looked at that reporter dead in the eye. "(Miss, this tank is _American._ There are British variants of the M4, but as far as I know the M4A3E8 was never lend-leased to the Royal Army during the war.)"

"(Oh, apologies! Is there any story to this _American_ tank, then?)"

"(This was my grandfather's, and he was her commander.)"

As both uncle and niece entertained the reporters, Naomi had just tested the turret and gun out.

"Woah, this is really well-maintained!" she commented as she popped out of the commander's hatch, impressed.

"You'd think this was maintained by an entire team," Alisa commented as she walked round the Sherman, scribbling stuff on her clipboard while analyzing.

Arriving at the front, she noted down the damages.

"Multiple projectile scratches and dents on both hull and turret, one penetrating hole by an 88 through the front armour…"

The twintailed girl stared at the hole, reminded of the dream she had.

_Not now, not now…_

Brushing it off, she concluded her notes. "All done here, no visible rust at all! Any existing damage, we can easily fix, and modifications for tankery are just as easy too."

"Okay!" Kay grinned as she got into the commander's hatch. "Louise! We're done!"

Finally getting the reporters away and seeing the waving blonde on her tank, the young Tuckerman turned to her uncle. "I'll contact you regularly, I promise."

They both hugged. "Yes, got it. Now get going, time waits for no one."

Getting out of the hug and looking at David one last look, she waved and headed over to Ace.

"Can I get in the turret?" Louise asked the Saunders commander. "Loader's area."

"Sure!" was the reply she got.

Climbing up the tank, she opened and got into the loader's hatch.

Kay smiled. "Okay Alisa," she spoke through the intercom, "we can go now!"

"Got it."

The Sherman's engine roared and the tank set off, leaving the still-excited crowd behind, cameras still rolling.

* * *

"Man, this tank's just so smooth!" Alisa commented as Ace rolled down the streets, headed out of the town. "Engine's original and isn't as fast as our other tanks, but it surely accelerates just as well, perhaps even better. I can't imagine how great it'll perform once we bring it up to Sensha-do specs!"

"Seems you already like this tank," Naomi smiled, seated in the gunner's seat. Meanwhile, Kay was looking out of the open commander's hatch watching people stare at a tank on the streets (and her exposed chest) while Louise was in the process of opening the loader's hatch.

"Of course! Who wouldn't like the Easy-Eight?" the twintailed girl grinned as they left the quiet town, passing the entrance sign

Pushing the hatch off, the young Tuckerman stuck her head out, breathing in the fresh air that blew in her face. "This is the furthest Ace has ever moved from that basement in decades," she commented, enjoying the view. "I'm glad the suspension holds up, but I feel that we may need to beat it to see how well it actually performs."

"Hmm…" Kay pondered for a moment before getting an idea. "Alisa, let's stop."

"Eh? Alright," the girl replied, bringing the tank to a stop at the shoulder of the road.

"Hey, Lou, you'll be driving from now till we reach the base!" the blonde said. "I wanna see how well you can drive this tank and how the suspension will hold up offroad!"

"Huh? Alright, sure thing," was the reply as the young Tuckerman prepared to climb out of the hatch. "Wait, 'Lou'?"

"Yeah! Figured I should call you that, do you like it?"

The girl nodded, smiling. "Sure thing."

Kay returned the grin. "(Great!) Now, you two, get going."

"Wait, what? You sure bout that?" Alisa asked. "Does she know how to drive this faster than 5 miles an hour?"

"That's what I want to find out," the blonde replied. "Also, Naomi, can you check the gun's stability out while we're moving? It's time we figure out whether the Easy-Eight's performance is just as claimed."

The short-haired girl nodded as Alisa climbed out of the driver's hatch, assisted by Louise. As Tuckerman slid into the driver's seat and shut the respective hatch, Alisa climbed up the turret and entered through the loader's hatch, not closing it as she looked ahead, her head outside the turret.

Louise put on her headset before preparing herself.

"Alright Lou, (let's go!)"

"Mmh. Which way, though?"

* * *

Back at the base, everyone was busy with their own varying tasks. Mostly further tank repairs, cleaning and packing up, as they'll be leaving for their respective schoolships tomorrow. For example, on Ooarai's side, Team Anglerfish (with the exception of Mako, who was being chewed out by Sodoko for oversleeping) was washing their Panzer 4 H, Team Leopon was further tinkering with their Porsche Tiger, Team Turtle was busy with logistics and Team Mallard was occupied with scrubbing their Char B1 Bis down to perfect cleanliness.

Meanwhile, on the Saunders side, two girls were resting near the gates, having been busy for the past few hours.

"Ahh, we're finally done…" the blonde of the pair sighed before downing half a cold bottle of water in a go. "You're tired too, right, Yuko?"

Mirashiro Yuko, the short-orange-haired girl wearing a M1938 tanker's helmet, also drank from her own cold bottle of water. "Definitely. You seem to be less tired than me though, Rin."

Sazama Rin chuckled. "Do I? Though, that would make sense, considering you're our loader after all."

"Yeah, that's a good-enough workout for strength," the orange-haired girl grinned.

"Though, Yuko, doesn't that helmet feel hot inside?" the blonde girl asked.

"Hm? Not at all," was the reply as Yuko adjusted her headwear. "I'm used to it I guess."

"As expected from Helmet-chan," Rin teased. "You've been wearing that helmet on all times since the day you joined!"

Helmet-chan grinned. "You know I like that nickname a lot!"

"Yeah, I do. Hey, is Alisa not back yet?" the blonde asked, looking around. "Haven't seen her around today."

"Oh, she's gone to pick up a new tank for us," the orange-haired girl explained. "It's a Sherman, but from what I heard from the others, it's an excellent variant we've never had before."

"Oh? I thought we had the rarer variants, like the A6s."

"Well, it's not always about rarity, but cost," Helmet-chan pondered. "We're rich, but we're still a high school team. Not really as rich as All-Stars, though. Still, I'm pretty sure we've bought all the available models on the Japanese tank market last I heard from Alisa, so maybe it's something European-exclusive?"

"Hmm… Hey, do you hear that?" Rin asked, perking up.

Listening closely, Yuko initially couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary, unlike her gunner buddy of the same tank. However, she soon caught it; the sound of an unfamiliar engine, getting louder as each moment passed.

"Yeah, I do now," she replied, looking around. "I thought everyone's not going to be running our tanks today?"

"I thought so too," the blonde replied as the sound grew louder. "Odd, this doesn't sound like any of the tanks around. Definitely not one of ours."

"Hey, could be that new tank," Helmet-chan commented as she looked down the road through the metal fences surrounding the camp. "But there's nobody coming."

"Maybe they're still far away?" Rin suggested, looking down the road as well as the incoming sounds of the engine got louder and the sounds of a tank's tracks and suspension system became audible. "Man, that's one loud tank."

"Wait, it sounds like it's getting closer, you can hear the tracks and squeaking. Maybe it's coming from off..." the orange-haired girl observed before faltering, her eyes growing wider as she saw something rather nearby, behind the bushes. "Right there!"

As if right on cue, Ace plowed right through the bushes, moving at around 35 kilometers an hour with her turret pointing somewhere towards the right. She hit the long mould of soil in between the side of the road and the bushes, almost sending the tank flying before it dropped downwards, hitting the ground with a loud thud, the suspension squeaking upon impact. The moment she touched down, the brakes of the right track was applied hard, sending the track screeching on the tarmac as the tank veered hard to the right and facing roughly the right way down the road towards the base before the heading was adjusted properly. The turret turned and faced forward as the tank barreled down the road, everyone close to the two girls noticing the new arrival.

"Woah!" Rin commented. "That's quite an entrance!"

"And that's Kay right there!" Helmet-chan pointed to the commander's cupola. "And Alisa's sticking out of the loader's hatch too!"

Reaching the gate, the Sherman braked hard on its left track, sending the tank banking left hard. There was barely any room left between it and the side of the gates as it screeched into the compound of the base, but it entered without hitting anything nonetheless.

Louise stepped on the gas pedal, and Ace's Ford G-AA V8 roared as the Sherman straightened its heading.

"Lou, hard right 90 degrees, then floor it!" Kay ordered enthusiastically, clearly enjoying the ride. Unfortunately, the pale-faced Alisa didn't have the same enthusiasm, clutching onto the sides of the loader's hatch for dear life.

Listening to the Saunders commander, the young Tuckerman did just that, feeling the decades-old tank roll to the left as she executed the sharp right turn. Releasing the right brake, she stepped on the clutch, shifted up, released the clutch and pushed the gas pedal down to the metal.

Many Saunders girls stopped working on their tanks inside the garage and poked their heads out, watching the Easy-Eight as it roared past the garage doors just slightly below 26 miles an hour, definitely exceeding the camp's designated speed limits. Even the girls from the other schools turned their heads, curious about the commotion happening.

"I've never seen these many Shermans around," Louise commented in awe, looking of her driver's sights at the Shermans that had moved a bit out of their respective garage doors for various reasons. "Look at those A1s! Wait, are those Fireflies there?"

"We can sightsee later," Naomi interjected through the comms, amused at the girl's enthusiasm. "Watch the road, we don't wanna roll something or _someone_ over!"

"Turn hard right once we reach the end of the building, then let's stop there!" the blonde at the commander's hatch spoke. "Isn't this fun, Alisa?! Eh, Alisa?"

"She's gonna pass out!" the short-haired girl commented, laughing.

"What's that?" Miho asked as she turned around, being in the middle of a conversation with the Ooarai Student Council along with Yukari and Miss Chono. The source of the commotion seems to be coming from in front of the Saunders garage, and she could hear the prior screeching and current sounds of an engine, which means this was a tank of some sort.

"I thought all you girls aren't running your tanks today?" Ami asked, curious as she watched the girls who could see the center of the excitement point excitedly.

"We aren't," Yuzu said. "Well, it's coming over to us now, so let's see,"

Ace then came into view, a visibly-grinning Kay and a visibly-terrified Alisa seen on the top hatches of the Sherman. The tank's right track locked up, sending it into a sharp, screeching right turn before the brakes were released, keeping it about 90 degrees right of its initial heading. The brakes of the tank were then applied, though not as hard when it was turning. With a few softer screeches, the tank slowed down quickly, gently jerking back when it finally came to a stop beside the garage wall as its center of gravity returned to its original stationery position.

Kay hit her fist in the air. "Woohoo! That was fun! Great job, Lou!"

"Thanks," the young Tuckerman replied shyly, relaxing in the driver's seat. "What do you think about the suspension?"

"It's smoother than our other tanks driven at that same intensity, I can tell you that," Naomi replied. "I can see the benefits of both the HVSS and wider tracks. For this gun, it's much more stable than what we use, perhaps slightly beyond speeds where our tanks would have trouble aiming at. At what speed is the stabilizer supposed to be effective until?"

"25 kilometers an hour," Louise replied.

"Then it's served exceptionally well," Naomi smiled. "I know the Firefly's got no stabilizer, but man, this is making me not want to go back to my tank and crew."

"This tank also accelerates better than ours, probably because this has a V8 instead of the radial and inline engines we've been used to," Kay added on thoughtfully. "Right, Alisa?

Silence.

"Alisa?"

The twintailed girl, shaking and her face pale, managed to stand up, poking her head through the loader's hatch again.

"Louise Tuckerman, you… y-you are _definitely_ never going to be a driver again on my watch."

And cue the laughter from Naomi and the giggles from Kay.

"Come on, a little offroading and you're this scared?" Naomi managed to blurt out.

"It was terrifying!" Alisa shouted back indignantly.

In the driver's seat, Louise could not help but giggle as well.

The pale girl, who was starting to regain her colors, heard that. "Dammit, you're laughing too?!"

"Oh, it seems we've attracted quite the attention," Kay finally noticed, looking at the crowd that had formed around the Sherman. "(Hi, everyone!)"

"So this is the new tank you guys got," Ami commented, observing the decades-old Sherman. "This is something not even All-Stars has, eh?"

"Wow, this is really an Easy-Eight!" Yukari gleamed, running around the tank. "This is amazing, I've never seen one in person before!"

"That's a 76 mm gun right there, right?" Miho asked, looking at the barrel. "It's also got wider tracks and a different suspension from what we've seen, too."

"Spot-on!" Kay beamed. "Anyway, we'll have to get this tank into the garage for inspection. Guys, let's get out! I'll get some of the girls to handle it from here!"

As the blonde hopped out of the commander's hatch and Naomi began to get out, Louise opened the driver's hatch. Slowly, she peeked out, not used to this amount of attention.

"Hey, who's that there?" one of the Saunders girls asked, pointing at the young Tuckerman as Naomi shut the commander's hatch and hopped off the tank.

"Oh, that's the new girl that transferred here," Kay replied casually. "Her name's Louise. She's a little shy, though," she grinned.

The blonde leaned in to whisper. "We're going to fix that, though."

"Ah, I understand," the girl nodded. "Hey, hello there!" she waved.

The young Tuckerman, surprised for a moment, smiled and waved back shyly, more of her head out of the tank now.

"Louise!" Alisa called through the intercom. "I need help with your luggage here!"

"Ah, coming!"

Getting out of the hatch, Louise climbed up the turret and pulled her luggage out. Setting it on her side, she offered her hand to the twintailed girl.

She accepted it, and with the other girl's help, Alisa got out of the loader's hatch, shutting it.

"Thanks. As for your driving, well, you didn't crash, so I'll say you're not half-bad," the twintailed girl smile, patting Louise on the shoulder.

"Eheh, thanks…" the young Tuckerman blushed lightly.

"But know that I wasn't kidding about not letting you drive, though," Alisa went on. "Later about that, let's get off first."

Louise nodded.

"Here, I'll help you bring your stuff down," the Saunders vice-commander offered as she hopped down. Tuckerman grabbed her luggage and gently passed it down to the other girl, who gently placed in on the ground.

"Hey, you squirts, I recognize one of you as a driver," Alisa pointed to a group of fellow Saunders girls as Louise hopped off. "You bring this tank into the spare garage space, one of you help guide it in and you remaining two, go on tell the other girls to start the inspection."

"Yes ma'am!" they replied together, one of them climbing up the Sherman and into the driver's seat while the other stood behind the tank. The remaining two, of course, sprinted into the Saunders garage.

"So, you're the new girl the others were talking about," Miss Chono commented, walking towards the young Tuckerman as Ace reversed away. "Louise Tuckerman, is it?"

"Y-yeah," she stammered a bit. "I'm glad Saunders decided to take me in."

"You won't regret it, I can assure you that!" Ami beamed as two other girls sprinted up to the group.

"Ah, Yuko, Rin" Alisa greeted. "Are you two done with the A1?"

"Yeah, we are," Helmet-chan panted, turning back to look at the leaving Easy-Eight. "That's our new tank?"

"Sure is," Kay replied. "It's still in its World War 2 configuration, so we'll need to have some work done when we get back on the schoolship."

"Don't think we've seen this variant before," Rin commented. "What is it?"

"M4A3E8," Louise chimed in, "or M4A3(76)W HVSS, if you prefer the official term."

Yuko's jaw dropped. "You're kidding! Is this really an Easy-Eight?"

The young Tuckerman nodded.

"Wait, what am I not getting?" Rin asked, confused. "Helmet-chan, what's an Easy-Eight?"

"The M4A3E8 Sherman is one of the best possible variants of the Sherman ever fielded in the war!" the orange-haired girl replied excitedly. "Hell, some have agreed that it's the best, hands-down! You've got the 76.2 millimeter M1 gun, a gun stabilizer, wet ammunition racks, HVSS and wider tracks all on that tank!"

"Ooh, sounds nice!" Rin nodded. "Wait, what's HVSS?"

"Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension. Compared to Vertical Volute Spring Suspension, or VVSS, the system that all our tanks so far, HVSS is a far superior choice. It's slightly heavier, but it's stronger, smoother and provides more mobility. Much easier to move on soft ground, rocky terrain or just cross-country in general. Plus, the wide tracks come with it."

"That sounds good! Wait, then why have we not gotten more tanks like this yet?"

"Well, the Japanese market doesn't have them available," Alisa shrugged. "I think a majority of them have become museum pieces, and the rest are off our radar. We were thinking of upgrading a few of our Shermans with HVSS, but parts and tracks are both rare and sourced from outside the country, and for all the budget we've got, are too expensive for us."

"Doesn't the JSF approve the manufacturing of reproduction parts for ones that are rare?" Helmet-chan asked.

"Well, we're the only ones with any interest in HVSS, after all," Alisa explained. "Only Saunders and All-Star has fielded Shermans on a regular basis and at a large scale, and they don't seem to be interested."

"Bummer. But hey, now that we've got that tank with us, does that mean we'll need to buy parts and also be able to upgrade our tanks?" Rin pointed out.

"Yep!" Kay grinned. "Well, Ace will be on a trial basis so that we can accurately judge whether we'll need to upgrade our existings tanks, but of course, we'll buy parts just for this tank!"

"For what we can observe just now, it seems like HVSS will indeed be a valuable upgrade," Naomi continued.

"Sounds nice," Helmet-chan replied before the orange-haired girl and her friend looked at each other. "Wait, 'Ace'?"

"Oh," the blonde commander realized, "that's the name of the Easy-8."

"Ah…"

"We should give our tank a name too, vice-commander!" Helmet-chan suggested eagerly to Alisa. "Wait, how did that name come about?"

"Well, uh… we don't actually know, but it was named by Louise's grandfather," Alisa pointed to the newcomer.

"Oh that's right, we haven't greeted you yet!" Yuko quickly said, a little flustered. "I'm Mirashiro Yuko, this here is Sazama Rin. Nice to meet you! Uh… handshake or bow?"

"A handshake will be nice," the young Tuckerman smiled as she shook hands with the three. "Louise Tuckerman."

"Lou-chan," Rin thought offhand and giggled when she saw Louise's blush. "Sorry, that was something I thought of."

"No, it's all fine!" was the quick reply. "In fact, Kay already came up with that, so…"

"Oh, I'm late," the blonde pouted as she looked at the grinning blonde commander. "Well, that's no problem, I'll call you Lou-chan from now on! Ah, this here's Helmet-chan!" she continued, gently knocking Yuko on the helmet. "You'll never see her without her helmet!"

The young Tuckerman giggled. "Really?"

"Well, I don't actually wear this all the time," the orange-haired girl replied, smiling.

"When will I be able to see your hair, then?" Louise asked, curious.

"Well," Helmet-chan grinned, "if you get to see it, it'll be a special occasion for you!"

"Ah, I'll look forward to it!" the new girl grinned.

"Mmh! Ah, back to Ace then, did your grandfather really name the tank?"

"Yep! Grandpa's her commander during the Second World War."

"Wow, really?! That's impressive!"

"Grandpa, though?" Rin pondered. "Feels a bit off with a guy commanding a tank to me…"

The young Tuckerman chuckled. "Well, it was a very different time. There was a war going on, after all."

"And sensha-do's not war!" Kay finished proudly, wagging her finger. "So, now that everything's settled, let's go catch up on the others, alright?"

"Wait, where will Lou rest for the night?" Naomi realized, pointing it out quickly.

"Well, don't we have a fourth bed in our dorm room?" Alisa thought. "We can always take on someone."

"Mmh," the blonde-haired commander acknowledged. "What says you, Lou?"

"That'll be nice!" the newbie replied rather enthusiastically.

"Alright, Lou's gonna sleep in our room tonight!" Kay declared proudly. "Yeah, we should get your stuff in there first, (let's go!)"


	5. Chapter 4

_Four_

"You'll definitely love Saunders, I'm sure of that!" Kay assured Louise as the both of them left the dorm room, the blonde-haired commander shutting and locking the door behind her. "You haven't seen anything yet! Have you ever seen a schoolship before?"

"I've heard of them, but I've never even seen one before, not even in pictures" the young Tuckerman replied honestly, albeit sheepishly. "I know they're a Japanese exclusive and are massive, but I've never looked them up or seen them on TV."

Kay grinned as they walked down the corridor. "That makes it even better! You'll not believe your eyes when you look at one for the first time, and Saunders is the largest schoolship in the world!"

"Ooh, really?"

"Yes! I'm not gonna spoil it for you, Lou, just see it for yourself!"

The young Tuckerman nodded, smiling. She had known Kay for only a few days, but the natural charisma and personality of the Saunders commander was certainly highly effective.

_She's great!_

"Oh," Kay continued, suddenly remembering something, "don't worry about the logistics. We'll be able to get all of those done when we get back! Your uniforms' sizes are already in stock, the final registration paperwork will be done on board and whatever I've not listed the headmaster will definitely deal with em all in a jiffy!"

"That's great! Must be a surprise and a bit of a hassle to them getting a student overseas at such short notice, though."

"Oh, it happens from time to time, we've got procedures that make stuff like this easy!" the Saunders commander reassured. "Saunders had received new students from abroad many times before, and they've all been settled in just as quickly as you! Hell, I think there's a new one this year that's in the team too! How they achieve all of that I've got no idea though, but hey, I'm just a sensha-do commander, just let it flow as long as it works!"

"Mmh!" Lou nodded.

"(Hi), commander!" a Saunders girl called out as she walked past. "Oh, hey there new girl!"

"(Hey!)" "(Hello~)"

The Saunders girl waved back at the two as she walked away.

"Oh, right! Judging from your age and education level here, you're going to be in Year 1! You're going to be our junior!" Kay grinned, rubbing the young Tuckerman on her head.

"Ehehe, I see," Lou replied sheepishly, not used to this amount of attention.

_Shy…_ Kay thought to herself. _We'll fix that soon enough._

"Wait, so what year are you?"

"Ah, (I'm Year Three!)" Kay replied proudly. "I'd be heading off for college next year, so I'll only be with you for a few more months."

"Aw…"

"Don't worry, we'll probably fight sometime together before I go! Besides, when I do, I'll always be watching you!" the Saunders commander assured with a smile. "Pity that I won't directly be there, but hey, you've still got Alisa and Naomi there, so I'm not worried! Both of them are Year 2!"

"That's great! Wait, Alisa too? I thought she'd be younger than you guys."

"Oh, no, she's just smaller than us!"

"That means this makes me a junior to all of you!" the young Tuckerman smiled.

"Yep, and we'll all look out for you!" the Saunders commander grinned. "Now, let's bring you to the garage and see how your new team operates, alright? You haven't been in a sensha-do team before, so we won't go hard on you, if we're even hard in the first place."

"Sure! I'll love to learn the ropes!"

Just at that moment, a black-haired girl in a uniform not that of Saunders stepped out from the stairs, followed by two other girls with roughly the same bob haircut the supposed leader of the trio has. On top of white-bloused green-skirt uniform of Ooarai, each of them wore a black band on their left arm.

The apparent leader noticed the two Saunders girls, one of which was the main reason why they were in the Saunders dorm. "Hey, you! Blondie!"

"Oh? Oh, hi Sodoko!" Kay waved, contrasting the stern tone of the leader of Ooarai's Public Morals Committee.

"It's Sono Midoriko!" the black-haired girl replied, annoyed. "Why does everyone keep calling me that?!"

"It's all fine, Sodoko!" the Saunders commander waved off casually, completely missing the angry correction from the girl. "What's up, anyway?"

Sodoko huffed. "The Sherman you were on! Don't you know that we've got a speed limit of 10 kilometers an hour?! You were clearly exceeding that! You of all people should know that rules and regulations are there for a reason, and your actions were dangerous! What if someone gets hurt?! Or what if you damage something?! If you were in Ooarai I'd have disciplined you along with the committee…"

"Psst, I think it's our time to go," Kay whispered to Lou, a look of slight exasperation on her face. "Let's get outta here before our ears start to bleed."

Nodding in agreement, the young Tuckerman, along with her commander, slipped away from the still-ranting Ooarai Public Morals Committee chairman. Kay waved back at Gomoyo and Pazomi, who both sighed and sheepishly waved back, not wanting to alert their leader to the two Saunders girls trying to escape.

"This is outrageous! The speed limit's there for a good reason, and that's to prevent damage and injury! Do you think it's funny defying the rules?! As a commander you know that…"

Once they were at the staircase, they bailed, sprinting down the steps as quickly as they could together before Sodoko realized anything.

* * *

"W-we got away…" Lou muttered as she stopped sprinting away from the dormitory, panting slightly. "Who are those, anyway?"

"Those are the Public Morals Committee from Ooarai," Kay explained, somewhat out of breath as well. "Ooarai's great, but Sodoko in particular is a sticker to the rules for _everything._ Don't get me wrong, she's actually pretty nice."

"Oh? What about those other two?"

"Oh, Gomoyo and Pazomi, Gomoyo's the one with longer hair. They're sorta being dragged along by Sodoko, you know," the Saunders commander chuckled. "But you can sorta tell that already from just now, right."

"Mmh."

"Well, we're in the clear now," the blonde continued, the both of them walking towards the Saunders garage. "Don't worry bout them, if they do decide to chase us it'll be quite a while before they catch up."

She turned her head away from the young Tuckerman. "Maybe," she whispered to herself.

"Ehh?! I heard that! You said 'Maybe'!"

"Did I?" Kay smiled, feigning ignorance.

"Hey, I'm not deaf!" Lou pouted as they walked into the garage allocated to Saunders.

The Saunders commander looked at the new girl before suddenly laughing. "Oh, my, you look just like Alisa when you do that!"

"Do I?" the young Tuckerman asked, surprised.

"So, we fancy an Alisa Number 2?" Naomi suddenly asked, creeping up behind the both and hugging the young Tuckerman from behind.

"Eh?"

"Well, you've got one tail instead of two, and yours is longer, so…"

"Oh, Naomi!" Kay beamed as Lou looked up at the taller short-haired girl behind her, surprised. "How's all the packing going?"

"We're almost done!" the Saunders sharpshooter replied. "We'll probably be finished even before dinner! Right, guys?!"

A chorus of "Yeah!" and cheers came from the rest of the still-busy garage.

"Splendid!" Kay grinned. "I wonder what's for dinner today anyway."

"Only way to find out is to wait, of course," Naomi replied, her arms still lightly wrapped around an embarrassed Louise. "Oh, you really do feel like Alisa from here."

"D-do I?"

"Yeah, you do," Naomi grinned. "You're slightly bigger, though~"

"W-wait, wha?!" the young Tuckerman stammered, blushing, aware of what the older girl was talking about.

Meanwhile, Kay can only grin at the oddly-familiar scene, one that resembles Naomi's interactions with Alisa.

"Naomi!" a girl called out from afar, next to a Sherman. "We need your help here!"

"Oh, time to get back to work," the short-haired girl said, releasing Louise from her grasp and petting her on the head. "See you two later!"

"Naomi sure had her fun with you, eh?" Kay commented happily as the sharpshooter headed over to her team. "She's flirty like that, but only with girls apparently."

"Ooh, really?" Lou asked, blushing a little.

"Yeah! Besides, I think she likes you the same way she likes Alisa."

"That's good to hear," Lou replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, you'll be good friends with her for sure! Anyway, let's take a look at what we're doing now."

For the next few minutes, Kay brought Louise around the Saunders garage, showing her the various jobs the Saunders girls are doing at least for this particular. The young Tuckerman, interested throughout the "tour", observed the club's girls work on their Shermans, clean up their tools, run a few logistics trips and wash their tanks, to name a few.

Of course, Louise paid particular attention to the variants of tanks used by Saunders. She saw the 75 mm variants of the various M4 models up close for the very first time, her eyes wide and filled to the brim with enthusiasm. Kay then went on to explain how the 75 millimeter variants, although adequate for a good portion of the opponent tanks they face, are not up to par with heavier targets.

"They just don't penetrate enough and that gets pretty frustrating, to be honest," one of the girls from the crew of the particular M4 they were passing by chimed in. "I wish I get to crew in one with a 76."

"That's because the 75 isn't made specifically as an anti-tank gun," Louise explained. "This gun was meant to be an all-rounder and do stuff like fire at buildings or enemy infantry with HE, and the 75 mm HE shells pack quite the explosive punch that the 76 mm HE shell doesn't have. Back in the war they served well due to their anti-infantry and anti-building capabilities, but now that it's limited to just an anti-tank role of course they'll be slightly more lacking. Even then, it's still useful in situations not involving some heavy tank or a Panther."

"Interesting," the girl had replied, looking at her tank. "I guess it isn't that bad after all. Still would like more anti-tank firepower," she went on, grinning.

"I didn't actually know that," Kay replied sheepishly. "Thought they felt the 75 was too weak and planned to replace them all with the 76."

"You got the first part half-right," the young Tuckerman politely pointed out. "They put the 76 on Shermans because they recognized that the 75 was lacking against targets that the Shermans were facing, but they never thought of fully replacing the 75 with the bigger gun. Just some trivia, on D-Day all the US tank crews opted to use the 75 over the 76. The only people fielding Shermans with 'dedicated' anti-tank guns were the British with their Fireflies."

"Wow, really?" both the commander and the other girl had replied at the same time.

"Man, that makes my tank feel special," the latter went on, smiling. "Anyway, nice chatting with you, new girl! Gotta get back to work."

After the little chat, Kay and Louise continued on their tour, passing even more Shermans. Soon, they reached a Firefly; specifically, the one Naomi was the gunner of.

"VC Firefly," Kay told Lou as the latter walked around the tank.

"It's an M4A4 hull with the British 17-pounder, right?" the young Tuckerman asked.

"Yep!" Naomi replied. "Granted some will consider the modifications crude and that the tank's merely a filler before a suitable replacement is developed, but I still love this one nonetheless."

"Naomi, how's your command training going? Is Mizuki here giving you trouble letting you command her tank?"

The commander in question, Kaiba Mizuki, giggled and popped her head out of the commander's hatch. "Surely not, I hope! Naomi, am I giving you trouble whenever you take command?"

"Your judging eyes are always on me when I get into the commander's chair, and it's making me feel over-pressured," the short-haired girl joked.

"Aw, come on! Kay will kill me if I ever mistreat you, you know."

The Saunders team commander laughed. "And how's your shooting lessons, Mizuki?"

"It's been great! Eventually I'll surpass our ace sharpshooter over here," she grinned.

"We'll see," the short-haired girl grinned back.

Moving on, Kay and Louise passed a few more Fireflies before arriving at the US 76 mm variants, namely the M4A1s. Passing by them, the last M4A1(76) in the row is Alisa's, its engine hood open with the Wright-Continental R-975 running.

And, of course, parked last in the Saunders row is Ace of Spades, the M4A3E8 being occupied by a few girls, still being inspected.

"(Hey, Alisa!)" Kay called out to the M4A1.

A head popped up from the commander's hatch.

"Kay! We're almost done with my tank!" Alisa shouted back in reply over the sound of her tank's radial engine. "Naroko, gun it!"

The tank revved in response up to its redline a few times.

"It's all good!" an unfamiliar voice barely made it out to Lou's ears.

"Great!" the vice-commander shouted back, pleased. "We're done here! Shut her off!"

The radial engine was turned off, and out climbed Alisa, Yuko, Rin and another girl. The unfamiliar girl was slightly taller than Alisa, with yellowish hair tied into a ponytail that reached just after the area of her shoulders.

"Oh, so you're the new girl they were talking about," she commented, seeing the young Tuckerman. "My name's Narita Hiroko, but just call me Naroko. I'm the driver of Alisa's tank, nice to meet you! Louise, was it?"

The both of them shook hands. "Yep, Louise Tuckerman, but just call me Lou. Nice to meet you too!"

"Man, 'Lou' really caught on with her," Kay grinned, whispering to Alisa.

"As do all nicknames you give," the vice-commander smiled, replying just as quietly.

"Lou it is then!" Naroko grinned. "I'm Year 1, by the way. What year would you be in?"

"One as well, I'm told."

"Ooh, sweet! We're both Year Two!" Helmet-chan and Rin chimed in together.

"Well, you could kinda judge from her age, but that's still somewhat surprising considering the potential differences in educational structure between us and France," Alisa chimed in before grinning. "You're going to be our junior then, eh?"

"Mmh," the young Tuckerman replied cheerfully.

"We'll guide you properly, no worries!" Yuko grinned. "You can count on us!"

"Do come to me if you need aiming advice!" Rin smiled.

"Loading for me!" Helmet-chan continued.

"Come to me for driving lessons, I can show you the ropes as much as I can," Naroko offered.

"Oh, you _better_ take driving lessons," Alisa grinned. "Your driving's gonna scar someone eventually."

The young Tuckerman chuckled. "Will do!"

"But Alisa's the only one that felt sick," Kay teased. "Lou drives well!"

"She definitely won't crash no matter what, but she'll still make me hurl while cruising!" Alisa groaned.

Feeling mischievous, Lou grinned. "Shall we take one of the jeeps and test that out?"

"Nonono, no thank you!" the vice-commander quickly rejected the idea, putting both hands up in fear as everyone laughed.

"Hey, Commander!" one of the girls in Ace called out to Kay, sticking her head out of the commander's hatch. "We're almost done with the inspection! All looks great, but we've got a question here."

"Go ahead!" the Saunders commander replied.

"What do we do with the shells on board?"

"Shells?"

"Oh, those shells are from the war," Louise explained. "We've taken them out and maintained them as well, degraded ammo's dangerous after all."

"What ammo do you have on board, Lou?" Helmet-chan asked.

"Some M62s, an equal amount of M93s, lesser M42s and a couple of M88s. Basically all the four types typically carried during the war."

"Interesting. But none of these shells are Federation-approved, right?"

"Yeah, so we can't use them in matches anyway," Alisa explained. "The JSF manufactures those shells of course, but only those from them are approved for official use."

"Aw, so we'll have to discard these?" Lou pouted.

"Why do you look so much like Alisa like that?" Rin commented, amused.

"Does it?" the pigtailed vice-commander asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Already mentioned it!" Kay grinned. "Well, let's take out one of each type and keep them as historical souvenirs or something, but we've got to use the rest up somehow."

"We've got a firing range here," Naomi said, walking up towards the group. "I'm done with the Firefly and I thought I'd check on you guys."

Variants of "Hey, Naomi!" were spoken by the other girls.

"Yo. And yeah, like I said, we've got a firing range here."

"Ooh, you're right!" Kay grinned. "That'll work! Hey, Lou, let's see how well you can load and shoot!"

* * *

A few minutes later, a crowd had formed outside the base's firing range, which had a maximum range of 500 meters. With only space for one tank to have target practice, it was occupied by the Saunders' "new" Easy-8, which was the prime reason why everyone was watching.

Inside Ace was Naomi, Louise and Yuko; Yuko would be driving Ace while Naomi was in the commander's seat, observing Louise as she does her work.

Meanwhile, Kay, Alisa, Rin and Naroko were up in the nearby observation tower, watching everything.

"Wow, look at the crowd," Rin commented. "Ace and Lou sure are popular, aren't they?"

"Yep," Alisa replied. "It's been quite some time since we've attention like this."

"Man, that's quite some attention we're getting," Helmet-chan noted back in the Easy-8, sticking her head out of the driver's hatch.

"Indeed," Naomi agreed. "Well, let's put on a good show for them, then."

The Saunders sharpshooter picked up the radio's microphone, pressing her headset to her ear. "Kay, we're ready. Want to start now?"

"Go ahead!" was the reply from the Saunders commander.

"Roger," she replied, setting the microphone down. "We've got the green light. Lou, let's load an M62 in."

"Gotcha," the young Tuckerman replied, getting up from the gunner's seat and moving into the loader's spot. Bending down, she took an M62 out from the already-open ammunition rack and brought it up, slightly struggling due to the shell's weight. In one single, smooth movement, she moved the round nose-first into the breech, the guard mounted behind it preventing the APC round to be loaded straight in right from the start. Only when the projectile portion was in (or about the first third of the round) was Lou then able to move the M62 to face straight into the gun, the projectile's rear no longer being blocked. In the same single movement, the young Tuckerman shoved the round into the breech, the inertia tripping over the gun's two ejectors and automatically shutting it with the "clang" and short metallic buzz familiar to the Saunders girls. "Gun loaded!"

"Not bad!" Helmet-chan commented, having turned around to watch Lou load the gun right from the start. "I like how you move the shell and shove it in all in one movement."

"Really? Thanks," the young Tuckerman smiled, blushing slightly.

"Good work," Naomi nodded. "Now, let's see how well you can shoot."

"Alright!" Lou nodded, moving back into the gunner's seat.

She peered into the M71D telescope sight. "I should say this first, I know how to aim and fire this gun but I've never _actually_ shot this before."

"It's alright, just try your best," the Saunders sharpshooter assured. "But you know how to read the reticle, right?"

"Of course!" was the eager reply as the turret traversed slightly, the following elevation of the gun both visible and audible. "Alright, ready to fire! I hope this hits…"

"Only one way to find out, Tuckerman! I'll count down for you, is that fine?"

"Sure!"

"Alright then! Three! Two! One! Fire!"

Right on cue, Louise hit the fire button.

And with that, in over 70 years, the 76 mm M1A2 gun fired for the first time; its boom, familiar to Saunders ears, clearly audible throughout the camp and beyond. Inside the tank, as expected, the recoil automatically opened the breech, ejecting the hot casing out and into the waiting net. The main weapon was functioning perfectly, as the Saunders sharpshooter noted in her head.

At the same time, she was also pleasantly surprised at where the fired round had hit.

"No way!" Alisa gasped, looking through her binoculars as the Saunders girls in the crowd continued to cheer, both at the firing and at the projectile hitting the target.

"Ooh!" Kay shouted into the radio. "Naomi, did you see that?!"

"Roger! Right at the center!"

"Woah, bullseye!" Yuko shouted from the driver's seat, having watched the round herself.

"Well done, Tuckerman!" Naomi grinned. "This is your first time firing, right?"

"Y-yes…" the young Tuckerman blushed. "B-but I think it's more luck than skill…"

"You still got the bullseye on your first, Lou," Naomi grinned. "In my books, that's good enough."

Louise blushed further, not used to this sort of praise. "T-thanks…"

"Well, time to try something different. Yuko, you can help with the loading now! I want to see her shoot!"

"Okay!" was the eager reply as Helmet-chan got out of the driver's hatch, shutting it and hopping down into the loader's area from the now-open loader's hatch, shutting it when she was through.

She pulled out and put on her loading gloves."I'm ready!"

"Alright! Load M93!"

"Aye, Ma'am!"

_Lighter than the M62… _Lou thought as Helmet-chan pulled out the HVAP round from the rack. Unlike the young Tuckerman, the Saunders loader stopped for a while after she set the shell straight, before using her fist to shove it into the breech.

"Gun loaded!"

"Got it. Lou, just fire at will."

"Okay…" the new Saunders girl acknowledged, frowning as she looked through the telescope sight again. The reticle, being made only for the M62, was unable to help the young Tuckerman accurately aim the M93.

_Oh well, time to guess it is…_

Aiming at a lower elevation than when she fired the previous shell, she hit the fire button.

With a boom, the cannon sent the projectile flying…

… which then proceeded to undershoot the bullseye by a fair margin.

"Oh, whoops!" Lou blushed sheepishly. "That was way off…"

"It's alright," Naomi smiled reassuringly. "Wanna try again?"

"Yes!"

The Saunders sharpshooter chuckled. "Alright then, load another M93!"

And a while later, the Sherman fired again, and this time the HVAP shell hit the target, this time just barely missing the bullseye.

"Oh, that's a close hit!" Kay commented on the tower, watching everything with her own pair of binoculars.

"She's actually doing okay as a gunner," Rin observed, also through binoculars. "The foundation's there. Now, if she can actually visualize ballistics…"

"Oh, that's right," Naroko suddenly realized. "Commander, what-"

The M4A1 driver quickly stopped when both Kay and Alisa looked at her simultaneously, Rin watching the scene in amusement. "I mean, Commander Kay! Sorry, Commander- I mean, Alisa!"

The pigtailed girl shrugged nonchalantly, right before Ace "downstairs" fired again, this time having fired an M42, the high-explosive shell hitting the dirt and blowing up, having undershot the target again.

"Wooh, that's HE for you," Alisa quipped. "We don't usually bother with them, since we only do anti-tank. What do you wanna ask again?"

Naroko opened her mouth, but looking down at the Easy-8, stopped before she could say anything. "Actually, that question I'll ask later. It's not the right time yet."

"Alright!" Kay replied cheerfully as the four of them continued to watch Ace.

Of course, the live firing cum target practice would go on until all of the Sherman's ammo was expended.

And by the time that was done, it was time for dinner.

"Hoo!" Lou huffed, tired, as she walked in queue with the Saunders group in the mess hall, a plate in her hands. "That took a while."

"But we managed to use up all of those shells!" Helmet-chan continued cheerfully. "That's a waste, though."

"And that strikes off Ace's gunnery tests as well," Naomi pointed out as food was dumped on her plate. "The 76 mm works well, much more than any of us expected. You sure your grandpa didn't send it off for restoration one day?"

"Positive," the young Tuckerman grinned, now her turn to receive food. "Maintained purely by the Tuckerman family!"

"All that we really need to do are repairs and to give it all the necessary Sensha-do modifications," Alisa noted behind. "Carbon coating, damage calculation systems and all of the other stuff."

"It's all coming well together!" Kay grinned.

A few minutes later, as the Saunders girls were done with their dinner and moving around to chat with their friends in the other schools, Louise looked around at everyone.

Just a few days ago, she had never anticipated that something extraordinary like this would occur to her. Deep down, the young Tuckerman was still coming to terms that somehow she was on the path of her dreams.

Her grandfather was a tanker. Her mother was a tanker.

And now, she was about to follow in their footsteps. If this were a dream, she hoped that she wouldn't wake up from this.

As the young girl continued looking at the activity of the mess hall, she looked over to a table occupied by the St Gloriana girls.

Attracted to something, her eyes rested on a certain energetic redhead.

_She was there back home with the others that night, wasn't she? Rosehip, was it?_

Louise took a sip from her can of Coke as she, almost dreamily, watched as the Crusader commander, out of earshot, shouted excitedly to her mates, moving her hands around as she talked passionately about something to her mates.

Noticing the new Saunders girl staring somewhere else, Kay grinned, moving next to the young Tuckerman and looking at the same direction. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Oh!" the girl jumped slightly, a little startled. "N-nothing much, no worries," she smiled.

Kay took another look in that direction again, before a grin grew on her face, realizing exactly _who_ she was looking at. "Oh, I see. What's with Rosehip?"

"U-uh-" Tuckerman stammered, blushing. "I just find her interesting, is all. You see, all those from St Gloriana are quiet and graceful, which is good, while Rosehip on the other hand is the exact opposite. And that's what gets my attention," she explained, going back to watching the redhead as the latter laughed heartily at what was probably a joke.

"Yeah, she stands out," Kay nodded.

None of the two Saunders girls noticed a certain someone approaching them from behind.

"And that's great too, you know," Louise smiled. "Nothing wrong with having a bit of life in you, and you'd cheer everyone around you up too! I'd love to have someone like this in my life, for one."

"Ah, so you fancy our Rosehip?" Darjeeling chuckled from behind, a cup of tea in her hand.

This time, Lou properly jumped up in surprise.

"Darj!" Kay beamed, getting up to greet the St Gloriana commander. "How's everything on your side?"

"We've done all the preparations," she replied politely. "I suppose that's the same for Saunders?"

"Yep!" the Saunders commander grinned. "We're all ready!"

"That's good to hear. So, back on topic, Louise?"

A bright red was starting to appear on the girl's cheeks as she stood up. "Y-yes?"

"I heard what you said just now, and I think Rosehip will appreciate those words," Darjeeling teased, watching the new Saunders girl start to look properly flustered with amusement. "Would you like me to pass that on to her?"

"N-no, that's not necessary!" was the quick, embarrassed reply. "Please don't!"

"Aw, but don't you want to break the ice, especially since you say you will, I quote, 'love to have someone like this in your life'?" Darj continued, her usual polite smile hiding her teasing pleasure. "You'd _start_ somewhere after all, why not make it now?"

Louise's cheeks flushed even redder, getting the hint the St Gloriana commander was giving. "T-that's not what I meant! I mean-... J-… just don't tell her!" the girl pleaded, giving up on explaining herself.

Darjeeling chuckled as Kay giggled beside the both them. "Fine, fine, I'll not tease you anymore. How's your day been so far?"

"O-oh? It's been great so far!" the young Tuckerman replied eagerly. "I can't wait to get to the schoolship tomorrow!"

Darj nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'd like to give a little advice, with my own experience in it; Louise, you've already taken the first step into something greater than you've ever imagined, something that will positively change and define the rest of your life forever. Allow it to change you, and you will only be able to get better over time."

Louise smiled and nodded. "Thank you, I definitely look forward to it. Though," she muttered, looking down slightly, almost somewhat ashamed, "none of this would've happened if you guys didn't show up. I've been lucky, and because of that a part of me says I don't really deserve this…"

The St Gloriana chuckled, but there was an understanding, relating tone in it. "I've been there, and let me tell you, it may be fate that allows us to meet, but it is yourself that got yourself here. The path of sensha-do is not a path that people join out of luck, but rather one that people _choose_ to walk on. And you've chosen to walk with us; you've just gotten a helping hand from fate."

Louise looked up at Darjeeling, finding her words and eyes filled with wisdom and experience. "I understand. I… I don't know what to say other than 'Thank you'."

"And perhaps 'Thank you' is all that is really needed," Darj smiled, sipping her tea. "Louise Tuckerman, I can see it within your eyes; you will definitely go far. Saunders is lucky to have you, and while I'm at St Gloriana and quite a distance away from you, who knows, maybe we'll both share a path together in future."

"T-Thank you, Darjeeling."

"And you," the St Gloriana commander shifted her attention to Kay, "treat her well."

She got a thumbs-up in response, grabbing onto Louise. "Like you even need to tell me! I've got her covered!"

"That's good. Also, Kay, you've been busy for the past while, and I've been waiting for you to be free. You see, I want to, say, _catch up with you?_" Darj smiled, hinting at something underneath.

The Saunders commander grinned, and Louise thought she saw a slight blush. "Sure thing, Darj! I'll go off then, Lou!"

The young Tuckerman nodded. "Okay, see you later then."

Waving back, Kay turned around and walked off beside Darjeeling, one arm around the St Gloriana commander.

Deciding that she wouldn't want to pry into it, Louise walked around the mess hall, now unsure what to do. Does she socialize, get to bed early or walk around?

Deciding that she'd find her answer outside of the mess hall, she stepped out, nowhere in particular in mind.

* * *

Eventually, Louise wandered into the now-quiet Saunders garage as the other girls moved around outside, standing right next to Ace.

Ace was now parked somewhere in between the other Saunders tanks, which made her presence even more obvious. Among all the olive-painted Shermans, the camouflage the Easy-8 was painted in made her stand out, and even from the side, the fake muzzle attached about halfway through the barrel of the 76 mm gun could not be ignored.

As some jeep drove by outside, the young Tuckerman put a hand on her tank.

"We're going to be great together, I promise," she muttered to the Sherman. "Let's do the Tuckerman family and its tank-involved lineage proud."

"Thought I would find you here," Alisa spoke out, just a few tanks away.

"Huh? Oh, Alisa," Lou smiled through the dim garage lights. "Were you looking for me?"

"Sorta," was the reply as the Saunders vice-commander strolled up. "Everyone else's catching up with their friends, and I, well," she paused, "I'm done with mine."

The young Tuckerman raised an eyebrow. "Not many friends?"

Alisa gave a wry smile and nodded. "I'm not really popular with everyone else, I guess. And I think I know why."

Louise nodded, turning around to lean back on Ace's front hull. "Want to share?"

Thinking for a moment, the pigtailed girl nodded. "Can I…" she asked, pointing to the Easy-8.

"Sure, by all means."

Sighing, Alisa rested her back against the Sherman's front hull next to Louise. "Well, I… like doing a lot of questionable stuff. And, well, I think that made me unlikeable with most."

"'Questionable stuff'?"

"Well, for example, just a few months ago, Saunders had a match against Ooarai in the Japanese Sensha-do Tournament. I wanted to give us a better chance at winning, so, I used a radio interception balloon and tapped Ooarai's radio in my tank," the vice-commander explained, her face looking somewhat forlorn. "The regulations state that while radio-tapping per se is legal, the usage of aircraft are not allowed, which would make radio-tapping practically impossible. But balloons are a grey area, so I was skirting around the rules."

She smiled, but it was a sad one. "They found out anyway and used it against me. Here I was listening to them in the M4A1, not knowing that they're baiting me into a trap with false orders. In the end, we ended up losing. Kay wasn't upset about the loss, but she was upset with me, and told me that she wanted to have a word with me after this. I've done stuff like this before, so I thought it would be another private lecture on how sportsmanship is important."

The vice-commander sighed, looking down on the ground. "But this time, in private, she dressed me down. I guess radio-tapping hit a major nerve in her, and although she wasn't showing it, it really pissed her off for once. It was uncharacteristically bad, I think a good number of the girls overheard it, Naomi certainly did. After the whole thing was over, I went up to the roof to cry, and Naomi came up to make me feel better."

Louise remained silent, momentarily not knowing what to reply. "Damn. I'm… sorry for making you recall this."

"No, I deserve that scolding," Alisa smiled wryly again. "It was unsportsmanlike and I was a major ass for doing that, I fully understood it that day. I just wanted to win, and I stooped so low I went too far. That same day I officially apologized to Kay, and Kay has forgiven me and apologized for her uncharacteristic harshness, and I haven't tried to skirt the rules ever since. People still don't like me, though."

The young Tuckerman watched the sad girl stare at the ground and decided to speak up. "You know, what you did was wrong and unsportsmanlike, but I can relate to your train of thought. It's natural for everyone to want to achieve victory and use any legal means to get there, absolutely nothing wrong with that; it's only human. You decided to do that for the sake of bringing Saunders to victory, and that by itself is an admirable cause."

Alisa looked up in surprise. "You really think so?"

"Mmh," Louise nodded, smiling. "Kay gave you that scolding not because she doesn't recognize your desire for Saunders to win, but because you were being, well, a major cunt to your opponents by practically cheating, and she needs you to understand that after one too many times of you trying to beat the system. I think you know she never wanted to embarrass you in front of everyone, thus why the private dressing-down, but she realized she got too heated after it was over. What's important is that you've learnt your lesson, and from what you've just told me, you clearly had."

Hearing those words, the vice-commander remained silent for a moment, not knowing what to say, before smiling. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"Even then, I don't think the others hate you in any way still," the young Tuckerman went on. "I'm sure the others understand your past motives, and you don't do stuff like that anymore. Maybe all it'll really take is for you to break the ice? I mean, assuming you've been waiting for someone to show up instead of looking for others."

"Hmm…"

The Saunders vice-commander thought it through. "Yeah, I haven't been the first to speak up, guess that's the major reason."

"Yep, you gotta say the first 'Hello' in order for things to progress! You should also get new friends from other schools, and who knows, maybe there's someone that wants to talk to you!"

Alisa nodded, now feeling better. "Yeah, I should. Thanks!"

"No prob!"

"I think there's someone in mind that I want to be friends with, but the problem's that she's from Ooarai," the vice-commander pondered. "She's been to Saunders before actually, as a spy-"

The sound of something metallic shifting on the floor got the attention of both Saunders girls, the both of them turning their heads to the left, right at the source.

Yukari froze, her foot right next to the toolbox she accidentally hit.

"Oddball," Alisa raised an eyebrow, getting up. "What are you doing here?"

"'Oddball'?" Lou asked curiously.

"Eheh, I've been here for a while already…" the Ooarai loader admitted sheepishly. "I just want to take a look at the Easy-Eight you guys got, but then I saw you two around, and I couldn't help but listen in. Nobody in Ooarai doesn't want to befriend you, Alisa. We may tease you repeatedly over your blunder with that balloon, but we'd never hate you over that."

The Saunders vice-commander looked surprised. "R-really?"

"Yeah, why would we hate you?" she smiled. "It's just as Louise said just now; we can relate."

Alisa was silent for a few moments, before smiling and nodding. "Thanks, Oddball. I'm glad, to say the least."

"No prob!" the messy-haired girl gave a thumbs-up. "Oh, and you, you're the new girl!" she said eagerly, her eyes now on Louise. "I heard your name earlier today, Louise Tuckerman, is it?"

"Yeah, I'm Louise," Lou nodded cheerfully. "Just call me Lou. And you are…"

"Akiyama Yukari!" the Ooarai loader saluted. "I'm the loader of Team Anglerfish, the Panzer 4 of Ooarai! Pleased to meet you!"

"The pleasure's mine, Yukari. Wait, then what's the 'Oddball' nickname Alisa used?"

Yukari blushed. "Well, long story, but…"

"Long story short, '6th Mechanized Division, Sergeant Oddball, Third Class' is what she introduced herself as when we caught her spying in Saunders and ask for her details," Alisa snickered. "It's a Kelly's Heroes reference, and yes, Yukari here will forevermore be 'Oddball' to Saunders."

"Eheh…" Oddball smiled sheepishly, scratching her cheek.

"Ah, I see. But I've never watched Kelly's Heroes before, eheheh…" the young Tuckerman muttered quietly.

The two other girls stared at her incredulously. "What?!"

"You're missing out!" Yukari commented eagerly. "That was a damn good movie! Alisa, get her to watch it someday!"

"Yep, Kelly's Heroes is the first thing on your new to-do list," the Saunders vice-commander declared in agreement. "The first club movie night we have after we return we're dragging you to the cinema hall and streaming it for you!"

Louise blinked. "Wait, a cinema hall?"

"Yes! We have our own cinema, and we'll book all of it!"

"Woah, really?!"

"Yes! With popcorn and drinks provided! And we'll be watching Kelly's Heroes in the booked hall!"

Lou blushed a little, a bit overwhelmed with especially Alisa's plan. "O-oh? T-thanks, but there's really no need to stream a certain movie just for me…"

"Oh, don't you worry," Alisa grinned, "when Kay hears about this she's going to _make_ you watch it even if you don't want to! Hey, if you feel bad about it still, everyone likes watching Kelly's Heroes multiple times."

"I-is that so? Well," Lou smiled, fidgeting, not used to this kind of attention, "I'll gladly accept then. Thanks."

"Yes!" both the Saunders vice-commander and the Team Anglerfish loader grinned, high-fiving each other.

"Ah, right," Yukari continued, moving back to the reason why she was here. "I didn't get a good enough look at your Easy-Eight before you guys drove her off into your garage, so I thought I should come here now to look at her all I want. Is that okay with you two?"

"Why not?" Alisa smiled.

"By all means, yeah," the young Tuckerman grinned, pleased that Yukari was interested in Ace.

"Sweet!" the fluffy-haired girl grinned, staring at the Sherman like a kid looking at candy.

She moved a hand forward and touched the tank, practically drooling. "The Sherman's one of the first tanks I've known since childhood, and the E8's one of the first few variants I've been acquainted with. This is the first time I've ever seen an M4A3 of any variant in person, let alone _the_ M4A3E8. The best Sherman variant of the war; 76.2 millimeter M1A2 gun, judging from the muzzle brake, paired with a Westinghouse stabilizer, Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension paired with the Ford GAA V8 all M4A3s use that, and last but not least, wet ammoracks. Simply amazing that you guys now have one."

"You know your stuff," Louise nodded, impressed. "You could tell the exact variant of the M1 just by looking at the muzzle brake."

"Mmh, I'm a proud tank nut!" Yukari grinned, her eyes moving around as she looked at the tank in detail. "She's kept in good condition, albeit still with wartime damage, she's still wearing wartime camo, and I like the touch with the barrel camo and fake muzzle," the girl smiled, excited like a kid with a new toy. "'Ace' is her name, yeah?"

"Yep, well, at least that's her shortened name," the young Tuckerman grinned, happy to interact with Oddball. "Her full name's Ace of Spades."

"Oh, I see," Yukari nodded, running her hand over the single spade painted on the hull. "The top card of the deck, indeed."

"My grandpa was her commander during the war, and his crew gave her that name," the young Tuckerman said rather proudly.

"Ooh, really?! Your grandpa's her commander?!" Oddball perked up excitedly, before something else got her attention. "Hold on. Oh, damn, that's quite blow," she noted as she looked at the 88 mm hole. "Judging from this size, it's caused by an eighty-eight I'm guessing, and if that goes through here…"

She looked up at Louise, deadpan serious. "What happened?"

Louise smiled fondly and solemnly, fully remembering the account her grandfather always recollected to her. "Well, it's one hell of a story. Wanna hear it?"

"You don't say!" Oddball smiled eagerly. "Alisa too, right?!"

That dream was still fresh in the mind of the Saunders vice-commander, but she still only knew the aftermath of the incident. "Yes, I'm curious as well."

The young Tuckerman grinned. "Sit down and relax, this will take a while."

The three of them sat down on the ground in a small circle, Louise leaning back on her Sherman with Yukari to her left and Alisa to her right.

She took a deep breath. "Now, this will sound unbelievable, but what I'm about to tell all happened not far from here. As in, where we're all are right now, that fight took place nearby."

The other two girls immediately sat up. "Really?" Yukari asked. "Woah. Hey, wait a minute…" she blinked, realizing something. "Does it have something to do with those four wrecked Shermans…?"

Louise smiled. "Right on, Oddball!"

The fluffy-haired girl's jaw dropped. "No way! Ace is the missing piece to the mystery?!"

"Wait, Oddball mentioned about some wrecks nearby two days ago," Alisa recalled before her jaw dropped as well. "That's related to Ace?!"

"Yep!" Tuckerman replied proudly. "That fight's actually the reason why my grandpa decided to settle here in France instead of going back, and thus why I'm not living in America right now. And also why I had to deal with not being able to do tankery thanks to the asses at the EU having banned sensha-do. (Thanks a bunch, buddy!)" she said with a playful, sarcastic tone, looking back at Ace with a cheeky grin and patting the Sherman on the hull. "I'm kidding, of course. Ace is a family member to me, and I wouldn't even be here in the first place without her. The butterfly effect, really."

She patted the Easy-8 again, this time more gently. "(Thanks, buddy,)" she muttered sincerely.

Alisa smiled to herself, understanding what Louise feels. Not just from her personal experience with her tank, but also having been shown a bit more about Louise and the Tuckerman family by the unlikely source.

"Having a tank that means so much to you," Yukari smiled, her eyes glistening, "you must feel proud!"

"I am!" Lou grinned. "So, anyway, my grandfather used to recount that day to me when I was a kid, I've heard it so much I've memorized it by now, heh."

"We're listening," the Saunders vice-commander said, both her and Yukari leaning in. While this would be the Ooarai loader's first time learning of the story, Alisa just wanted to hear Louise's take on the events.

"Well, so, it was 24 August 1944, on an overcast day," the young Tuckerman began to recount. "There was an Allied platoon, made up of five Shermans, travelling in a single line formation. In order, they were an M4A1(75) named Grey Wolf, Ace herself, a VC Firefly called Pluck, another M4A1(76) named Peaches, and last but not least an M4A3(75)D, Snowball."

The mention of Pluck in particular made Alisa recall the images in her head, the burning wrecks of those Shermans, especially that of the Firefly.

"Grey Wolf was the leader, of course, and second-in-command was Ace," Lou continued. "My grandfather, Joshua Tuckerman, was in his commander's seat, looking around. They were headed somewhere for an operation, and they were told there could be an enemy tank in the vicinity."

The young Tuckerman rested back against Ace. "Well, they found it. Or rather, it found them. Out of nowhere, Grey Wolf blew up right in front of Ace. No warning whatsoever. Just 'Boom!' and the turret came flying off. The entire column stopped. Grandpa's ears were ringing for a few seconds, unable to react, and just when he was just frantically looking around and his hearing returned, he heard the offending tank fire, and less than a second later he saw Snowball get hit and go completely dead."

"Firing on the lead tank, then on the last one," Yukari pondered. "That's standard tactics when ambushing a column."

"Mmh," Lou nodded. "Stop the column, then trap them. You really do know your stuff."

"Of course!" the Anglerfish loader grinned. "Anyway, go on!" she said eagerly.

"Well, back to Gramps, he correctly recognized the sound of a German 88 and saw it come from the right, and now that he's in command, he ordered everyone to turn 60 degrees to the right and told Butter to put in an M62."

The two other girls blinked in confusion.

"Who's 'Butter'?" the Anglerfish loader asked.

"Oh, my bad!" Louise smiled sheepishly. "Butter's the nickname of the loader of my Grandpa's crew. Short for 'Butterfingers', actually," she chuckled.

Yukari grinned, shaking her head as she and Alisa noticed the obvious irony. "Oh, boy..."

"That's not really a good name to give to a _loader_ isn't it?" Alisa commented, amused.

"There's a little backstory to that!" the young Tuckerman pointed out. "Don't worry 'bout it, he doesn't actually drop his shells while loading. Anyway, while that happened Peaches got shot and died, and that leaves Ace and Pluck alive out of five so far. Obviously, this isn't looking good for the platoon, or rather what's left of it now. Pluck spotted the King Tiger hiding in a field of bushes first and reported it, some 400 meters away, directly towards their right. So, Grandpa ordered the Firefly to head towards the right, to the left of that Tiger, and just fire at will, while Ace will move towards the left, at 5 miles an hour. I suppose he wanted to split up so that the Germans could be distracted by one and thus at least the other tank could head close enough to land a killing blow."

"Hm, that makes sense in that situation," the Saunders vice-commander nodded. "Considering that it looked bleak."

"Yeah, they're in a bad spot now," Lou agreed. "Anyway, Grandpa told Archer, his gunner, to fire at will as well. The Firefly fired first, and it bounced off the Tiger's front hull plate. Then Ace fired, and that M62 bounced off the TIger's front hull plate, as did that previous 17-pounder shell from Pluck. So, while Gramps told Butter to start loading the M93 and just keep loading it until he tells him to stop, the King Tiger fired at Pluck, and the Firefly blew up."

Alisa remembered the burning wreck of the Firefly from her dream, picturing it in her head.

Unseen by the other two, she shuddered, the revealation that the images were genuine making her feel uncomfortable, especially when she thought about what happened to the crew.

"So, Ace is now alone," Tuckerman continued. "Gramps always said it was probably because the camo and false muzzle resulting in the Tiger 2 misidentifying Ace as a 75 mm Sherman, and thus a Firefly was highlighted as the greater immediate threat and taken out first. Either way, he decided that it was time to fight since running away isn't an option, so he decided to flank. The E8 sped up to 10 mph and fired another time, and the HVAP round bounced off the front hull armour. At this point Archer was aiming at the gun mantlet, so I guess that just fell short. The Tiger fired again, but for some reason it barely missed, landing just an inch behind the Sherman. Ace fired again, but the round just grazed past the right side of the turret. At this point the Tiger 2 was visible, and Gramps ordered Ford, the driver, to turn 40 degrees right."

"Your 'Gramps' has an odd nickname scheme, eh?" Alisa teased.

"Oh, that was a team effort," Louise chuckled. "Oh, yeah, the machinegunner's got a nickname too! He's called 'Baby' because he's the least experienced out of the team. And the youngest!"

"Cute nickname," Yukari giggled. "I guess they plan to change it after he advances?"

"Oh, hell no, that's permanent!" Lou laughed.

"Pffft-!"

"Aw, that's so mean!" Alisa chuckled. "That's not nice of them!"

"Four out of five thought otherwise!" the young Tuckerman giggled. "He's a good machinegunner, though. Not that it took a lot of skill, but he did his job well. Anyway, that veer to the right saved Ace, because the Tiger fired and the 88 shell landed right at where Ace was. If it had hit, they'd all be goners. Ace fired again, but the Tiger backed up at the last second, otherwise that would've been a hit. They're 200 meters apart now, and Gramps could see the King Tiger angling in response to his approach. It fired and grazed the left side of the turret, and you can still see that scar underneath the track armour," she said, pointing at the left side of the turret.

"Oh?" the Ooarai loader looked up, noticing the damage. "I didn't notice! That was a lucky miss!"

"Yeah, just a bit more in and it would've been bad! But anyway, with the knock making everyone's ears ring, Gramps ordered Butter to load the M62, thinking that at this range penetration with an APCBC is now possible, and the fragmentation will immediately incapacitate the German crew. So, Butter unloaded the M93 already and shoved in the M62. Right after he reported that the gun was loaded, well…"

She pointed to the 88 mm hole. "That happened."

"Damn…" Yukari commented. "Who…"

"Everyone except Grandpa was killed by that," Louise said solemnly. "Gramps barely escaped death."

The image of Joshua Tuckerman's dead crew from the dream flashed in Alisa's mind, which was, of course, by far the most gory and disturbing thing she had seen in the dream.

The Saunders vice-commander could only imagine the feeling of that hell every single crew of those Shermans went through. And yet, she came to terms with it; that was war, not sensha-do.

"Ace stopped dead, 150 meters away from the Tiger, but Gramps was alive but seriously injured. Looking out of his sights, he could see the King Tiger roll out of the bushes, the commander getting out of his hatch, pleased. Ace's engine had stalled but still had electricity from the battery. Then, he had an idea. With difficulty, he went down to the gunner's seat and checked the manual turret traverse and gun elevation systems. They were fine. He knew the M62 was ready to be fired, but he was not gonna do that yet. And that was how he survived; he played dead. Going back to the commander's hatch, he watched as the King Tiger roll right up beside Ace. He still remembers the sound of that Maybach from inside Ace, with the sight of the enemy right next to him, the commander watching his tank. It was the tensest moment of his life. Soon enough, though, the Germans lost interest and the Tiger turned left, moving away from Ace. And once it was a good distance away, he got down into the gunner's seat, turned the turret and aimed right at the back of the King Tiger's turret. The last thing he said before he pulled the trigger was 'I win'."

Louise rested back, smiling as she looked at Yukari and Alisa, both of them wide-eyed in awe. "So, yeah, that's how that fight went down. My Gramps was the only Allied survivor, and there were no German survivors."

"Your grandpa's epic!" Yukari gleamed excitedly. "He took down a Tiger 2!"

"It was as much a team effort by the platoon as it was with him and his trick," Lou smiled. "But yeah, Ace took down a King Tiger! Not many tanks can claim that!"

"And do you think you can take a King Tiger down in future?" Alisa grinned.

"No confidence!" the young Tuckerman quickly raised both of her hands sheepishly. "W-well, I wanna leave that possibility open, but it'll be tough…"

"Oh, we'll whip you up to shape no prob!" the Saunders vice-commander smiled as the three of them stood up. "So, what happened after that battle?"

"Well, Gramps radioed for help, got to a hospital, did the after-action report and was put in reserve until the Nazis surrendered. The bodies were recovered. the wrecks and for some reason Ace as well were left alone there. After the war, Gramps resigned from the army, bought our house, went over to Ace, restarted her, drove her home and restored her. Oh, which reminds me; Yukari, you've been there, seen that cross?"

"Oh? Yeah, I did!" was the reply. "Only briefly, though, since Mako got really freaked out and we decided to leave. What about it?"

"Well, that's both in memory of all the lost souls and a marker; park Ace right behind it and it'll be at exactly where she was on that day."

"Woah, really?! That's neat!" was the enthusiastic reply.

"And there's a little box buried in front of it," Lou continued. "Inside it are three things; a copy of the after-action report, a picture of Gramps with his crew and Ace, and something else, I'm not sure what it is. He told me he wants it discovered, but only after he dies, and well, he kicked the bucket recently, so I guess-"

The sound of something being hit got all three girls' attention, and all of them turned their heads towards the source.

"Oh, whoops!" Kay grinned as both her and Darjeeling stepped out from behind a Sherman. "Sorry, we were just passing by and we heard you, we've been listening to the whole thing!"

"That was an interesting event," Darjeeling commented, sipping from her tea. "I hope you don't mind us having eavesdropped."

"Oh, not at all!" Louise grinned. "You shouldn't have hidden, though."

"Well, didn't wanna interrupt ya…" Kay replied sheepishly. "But yeah, that was amazing! Who knew you were this deeply tied to this place?"

"It's a shame we never got to meet such a remarkable man," Darjeeling commented. "At least his legacy lives on, inside the people and things he left behind, you and Ace included."

Lou gave a small smile. "Yeah, that's true."

"Hey Kay, Louise here has never watched Kelly's Heroes before," Alisa commented out of nowhere, snickering.

The Saunders commander looked at the new girl in disbelief. "Seriously?! You're missing out big time! First club movie night back on the schoolship, Kelly's Heroes, you'll be there!"

"Yeah, Alisa already made that clear for me earlier," Louise smiled sheepishly.

"I did!" the Saunders vice-commander chimed in.

"(Perfect!)" Kay grinned.

"Hey, I think we should head back and talk with the others," Yukari suggested. "I guess we're missing out with all the conversations, and we should bring Lou around and introduce her to everyone else!"

"O-oh?" the young Tuckerman replied timidly. "Well, sure, but I'm not good with crowds…"

"It'll be fine," Alisa reassured her, patting her on the back. "We're here to back you up, so don't worry!"

"We're gonna root out that timidness out of ya!" Kay smiled. "Let's go!"

"A-alright then," Lou smiled nervously as the group headed towards the garage exit.

"Oh, right!" Yukari suddenly remembered. "How did the name 'Ace' come about?"

"O-oh? Well, it's…"

* * *

_July 1944_

The newly-set-up Allied base was already bustling with life despite just being set up a week ago; people running around doing various things, soldiers being marched around, others striking up conversations with each other, the typical various military activities you'd find at any military base, really.

Of course, that includes the crews of the tanks stationed there doing their stuff; some of them were cleaning theirs, others were maintenance crews repairing damaged ones, others were looking at their tanks for the very first time.

And among that group of tanks and tankers, two young men were sitting on the turret of a brand-new Sherman playing cards.

There's nothing wrong with that.

"Ha! Flush!" one of them men, the one sitting on the right side of the turret, in front the open commander's hatch shouted, grinning as he dropped his cards face-up onto the olive drab Sherman.

"I can't believe this…" the other muttered in frustration as he watched his money being taken away by his friend. "You're either fucking lucky or I'm fucking unlucky."

"Well I hope I'm lucky enough to shove a shell up Hitler's ass!" the winning soldier laughed, shuffling the deck. "As for _you_, well, you just drive me to my parade."

"Fuck you, I'm going to shoot Krauts too!" the other soldier huffed indignantly.

"Well, the war ain't gonna win itself," a random voice called out from below them.

The two men looked down at the source of the voice, another young man, his arms folded as he looked up at the two.

"Now who the hell are you?" the man with the deck shot back.

"Joshua Tuckerman," was the reply. "I'm told that I'm going to be commanding this M4?"

"Oh!" the other man blinked, realizing who he was. "Sorry sir, I'm Roger Lumberg, assigned driver of this tank."

"Jim Lowe, I'm gonna be your gunner," the other man continued casually. "Lucky for you, you don't need to worry about me not shooting straight."

"Oh?" Joshua looked at his new gunner. "Why so?"

"Well, I'll tell you that I've shot every single fucking Kraut dead right at where it kills them," Jim grinned in pride, shifting his seating position and turning back to watch where he was moving to. As he did so, his right arm accidentally hit the commander's hatch, the hand holding onto the deck of cards momentarily opening up.

"Fuck!" he cursed, not noticing that a single card had fallen out of the deck as he placed it behind him. "Anyway, nothing stops me from killing a filthy Kraut, not even if they've got their guns and I'm using a fucking bow and arrow! I'll give them all an arrow to the fucking head!"

Tuckerman rolled his eyes, arms akimbo. "Whatever you say, 'Archer'."

"Just don't get us killed and we'd be happy, 'Archer'!" Roger laughed, slapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah? Well maybe drive faster this time and try not to drive us into a ditch again!"

"Pfft- What, really?" the commander chuckled.

"It was an accident!" his driver immediately protested. "Besides, it's not _my_ fault that the other M4s feel like slugs and turn like trucks. Well, at least this Easy-Eight here," he patted the tank confidently, "is much, _much_ better."

"How can you be so sure, you haven't even driven it!" Archer shot back. "What the fuck's an 'Easy-Eight', anyway?

"Easy-Eight, nickname for this particular model of M4," Jim explained, the enthusiast side of him showing itself. "M4A3E8, or M4A3(76)W HVSS if you prefer the official term. If you bothered to look up the specs it doesn't take an idiot to figure out what's good on this! Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension are superior to Vertical Volute Spring Suspension and with HVSS comes the wider tracks the M4 seriously needs, and this thing has wet ammoracks so we won't die in a fucking fire! Besides, all M4A3 models use the 1100 cubic inch Ford GAA V8, which has an all-aluminum design and a 32-valve DOHC-"

"Yes yes I get it, 'Mr Ford'," the gunner interrupted. "We don't need to hear another 5 hours of your blabbering."

"Fuck you!"

Joshua chuckled. "You're something like a tank enthusiast, aren't ya?"

"Yep!" was the proud reply from Ford. "Well, I'm a car and plane guy as well, anything 'bout them I'd be happy to look em up!"

"So, why 'Easy-Eight'?" Archer continued.

"I think I can answer that," Tuckerman raised a finger, "I know quite a bit myself. It's obviously a play on the 'E8' designation, but since this model hit Europe late June it's been raking up a lot of popularity, and part of that reason's how comfortable the ride apparently is. Thus 'Easy-Eight'. You can ask those guys there," he offered, pointing behind him towards another E8, its crew busy washing their tank down. "They've crewed theirs for more than a month already."

"Glad to hear I won't puke every time this guy drives," Archer snarked, pointing at Ford.

"Fuck you!"

"Knock it off, you two," the commander sighed, hoping the two of them wouldn't affect crew performance. "Anyway, it seems like the E8 was planned for production a few months later than it had, think August or September. But I guess something went right with the design, thus why they've gone with production ahead of schedule. Ours here's fresh from the factory, I'm told."

"Yeah, I actually saw it arrive yesterday," Archer nodded. "Figured I'd be assigned to a new tank. What's your last tank?" he asked his new commander.

"M4A1(76)," was the reply. "I was the gunner on that one."

"Oh, new promotion?" the gunner perked up. "Well, you're the boss now, so just don't run us into an ambush or something and we'll be fine."

"Like hell I will."

"Hey!" another voice shouted as another guy, younger than the rest, ran up. "I'm told to report to this tank!"

"You?" Archer asked incrediously. "But you're a baby! Who are you?"

"W-well, I'm Thomas Anderson, assigned machine gunner, sir," was the nervous reply.

"Oh. Makes sense. Never been in a tank before?"

Tom shook his head.

"Figures. Well, you've got the easiest job, just sit there and shoot any Kraut you see. Even you can do that."

"S-sure!" was the enthusiastic reply.

"Yeah, your name's 'Baby' from now on," Ford snickered. "I'm Ford, he's Archer, and he's… well, your boss."

"Joshua Tuckerman, seems like you're under me now," the commander greeted.

"Y-yes, sir! Pleasure to meet you, sir!" Baby saluted.

"Uh, no need for that, but thanks."

"S-so, I'm 'Baby' now?" he asked doubtfully. "When do I get a change of nickname?"

"Oh hell no, that's permanent!" Archer replied as he and Ford laughed.

"Don't worry 'bout it, they'll come up with something else once you prove yourself," Josh assured the frowning young man, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever Boss says," the gunner sighed. "Oh yeah, we're missing a loader, where the fuck's-"

"I'm here!" a new face waved as he walked over. "Barclay Owens, I'm the loader."

"Yeah, that's about right. Hey, get here, help me shuffle this deck," Archer beckoned, grabbing the deck from behind him.

"Sure thing."

Archer reached his hand out, deck in hand, and Barclay grabbed onto it. The moment the gunner released his hand, however, the loader somehow lost his grip, fumbling as the deck fell to the ground. "Shit!"

"You're fucking kidding me, we've got fucking Butterfingers here as our loader!" Archer facepalmed.

"Sorry!" was the reply as the loader bent down to hastily pick the cards up. Beside him, Josh also went down and helped out, passing his half of the deck to Barclay.

"Thanks," the loader quietly muttered as he arranged the deck.

"Anyway, since you're all here, I want to set a few things out straight," Tuckerman said, addressing his crew. "From now on we're a crew, so I hope we all get along well. We're fighting the Germans already, no need to fight within each other. Now to business, we're going to fight tomorrow so I want to make sure our tank-"

"One's missing."

Everyone looked at Butter.

"What?" Josh asked.

The loader ran the deck through his fingers. "One card's missing."

The commander raised an eyebrow.

"Amazing, you didn't even look at the deck," Archer commented incredulously.

"No, I'm serious. Here, commander, you count," the loader said, passing the deck over to Josh.

Sighing, Joshua fanned the deck and looked down at the cards.

A few seconds passed, and he noticed that his loader was right.

"Ace of Spades isn't here," he said, passing the deck over to Archer.

"Really?" the gunner puzzled, looking around. "Well, it must be somewhere here…"

"Guess our first job as a crew is to find the card then," the commander laughed. "Get going."

Various calls of "Aye sir" and "Roger" returned in response as everyone looked around for the missing card.

Noting something he was earlier, Tuckerman climbed up to the turret and looked down the commander's hatch. "Oh, there it is."

"Where?" Ford asked, looking up.

"Right on my seat," was the reply as the commander got down the hatch, bent down and picked the card up.

"Oh, yeah, must've slipped," he heard Archer comment outside.

"You sure your hand won't slip when you want to pull the trigger?" Butter's voice asked, the commander almost able to _hear_ the smirk on the loader's face.

"Oh, shut up!"

Joshua looked at the card as he stood up, holding the Ace of Spades up. "Seems like we're going to be lucky."

"Or rather, _you're _going to be lucky," Archer retorted. "It landed on your seat, after all."

"Oh come on, don't jinx us," Ford complained. "You say it as if we're all gonna die and he's not!"

Right on cue, an idea floated into the commander's head. "Well, I know how we can 'share my luck'. Say, why don't we name this M4 after this card?"

"'Ace of Spades'..." Baby muttered. "I like it."

"A bit too long though, don't you think?" Archer commented. "At least for painting the name on the barrel. Let's just put 'Ace' down, yeah?"

"That works with me," Ford nodded.

"Hell, let's paint a single spade on the tank too!" Butter suggested enthusiastically.

"Sure!" the gunner nodded. "Where, though?"

"On the front of the hull, right side relative to our tank. Would be somewhere in front of where the machinegunner is."

Tuckerman watched in amusement as his new crew began to work together for the first time. "All fine with me. Well," he decided, pulling himself out of the hatch, "let's get to it! Hitler's not gonna kill himself."

"I'll go get the paint," Ford volunteered as he walked off.

"I'll follow you!" Baby replied, following the Sherman driver away.

"We'll need to clean the tank first," Archer pointed out as he walked off. "Be right back Boss, gonna get water and buckets, maybe a hose if we're lucky."

"I'll get some cloth," Butter smiled as he headed off.

"Sure, sure," Joshua nodded before he realized he was the only one left. "Hey, what do I do?!"

"You're the commander! Stay there and let us do the job!" the loader yelled back, laughing.

Tuckerman sighed.

_Well, off to a great start at least…_

Hopping off the Sherman, he walked towards the front and looked at his new command.

_Brand-new tank, brand-new crew…_

He looked down at the Ace of Spades, still held by him, before looking up at his new tank.

"Something tells me you're gonna go far, Ace," he muttered to himself.


	6. Side Chapter 1: Kay

_Side Chapter #1: Kay_

_(This takes place after Saunders' match with Ooarai in the Japanese championship.)_

This time, Alisa went too far.

Just after the match with Ooarai, after congratulating Miho and her team, Kay told the vice-commander that she'd like to have a word with her after they returned to the schoolship.

Alisa thought that it was yet another lecture about playing fair.

It wasn't.

Ten minutes later, the vice-commander left the club room, tears pouring down her eyes.

With the door slamming behind her, Kay sighed, uncharacteristically unhappy.

Walking over to her desk, she sat down, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

For a while, she felt relieved that something nagging was finally off her chest. Finally, she spoke her mind to that girl, and that would probably stop her shenanigans for good. Saunders will no longer have a reputation for being a cheater, if not a bad sport among the other schools anymore.

But as she cooled down, she began to regret what she did during the last ten minutes.

The Saunders commander had never seen her vice-commander this terrified before. She could even see tears in her eyes, the poor girl trying not to burst into tears during the entire ordeal.

Kay's heart sank.

_Maybe that was too much…_

Slowly, the commander got up from her desk, trudging over to a window.

Staring out of it, she looked at the modern, well-designed buildings of her school, the orange evening sun reflected off their white walls. Owing to the massive budget Saunders always had, the other schoolships were miles behind this one in terms of environment, and they had always eyed Saunders' wealth.

Looking down, she watched a few girls as they chatted amongst themselves underneath the evening sun, probably headed back home.

Kay knew she was just distracting herself from the issue at hand.

_Why was I so mad?_

_Heh, dumb question,_ she mused to herself as she leaned forward, resting herself against the window sill, a small, sad smile appearing on her face as she looked up at the clouds. _I've never forgotten._

And with that, her mind wandered off, her eyes staring back in time, to somewhere long, long ago…

_8 Years Ago_

Kay meekly and quietly left the teachers' office, walking down the corridor of her school with her head down as usual.

The day had gone usually for her; by "usually", that means the same old bullying that happened on a daily basis. It didn't help that the young blonde girl was the quietest one in the class and didn't dare raise anything up to her teachers, and that served to only fuel those flames as the insults, stealing, deliberate trippings and even assaults got even worse.

"Go complain to the teacher then!" were the usual taunts that were given to her, because they all knew she wouldn't. Too scared.

All Kay wanted to do everyday was go home.

With the day ended, with classes over and after being scolded by her teacher for not completing a piece of homework that was actually stolen by someone, Kay quietly walked home, her journey uneventful.

Unusual, considering that the bullying did typically continue after school.

It was probably way too late for them to stay around, or they got bored of it for the day.

After a shower and, finishing her dinner, left in the fridge by her parents who always worked overtime till the late hours of the night and microwaved by Kay herself, the blonde girl entered her room.

Seeing it on her desk, she smiled, quickly walking over, eager to complete it.

It was a papier mache volcano that she had been working on for quite some time, meant for the upcoming school science fair in a week. The blonde girl had seen the instructions for making one in a book some time ago, and seeing that nobody else in her class at least had that idea, she decided it'll be cool to make one and awe everyone. Proud of her work, she hoped people will enjoy it, and maybe she'd get that prize the fair gives out for the best project.

Grinning to herself, she sat down and resumed working on it, the troubles of her school life seemingly forgotten.

A few days later, Kay was sitting alone as usual, eating from her obento.

"Hey, Kay," a fellow classmate greeted, sitting beside the blonde girl. "How's it going for you?"

Kay was surprised; nobody had ever sat with her before.

"It's going okay, thanks for asking," she replied in her usual quiet voice.

"That sounds great!" the other girl smiled, and for once Kay thought that this could be a friend. "So, let's talk about something. The science fair is coming up, yeah?"

The blonde girl's eyes lit up. Something she's interested in! "Yeah, and I've got something that I want to show there?"

"Oh, nice! Tell me more!" the other girl asked, seemingly interested.

And with that, Kay enthusiastically told her all about the papier mache project. She even told her all about how she made it, going down to the smallest details.

All this while, this classmate of hers was listening intently to everything, perhaps a bit too intently. "Nice!" she commented. "You really put your effort into this, didn't you?"

"I did!" Kay grinned. "The fair's a few days away, and I really want to get that prize!"

"I see. Well, I think I have to go off now, it's been nice talking to you. Good luck!" the girl smiled, standing up.

Waving back at her, Kay smiled as well, returning and eating her lunch with a much-better mood.

Perhaps she wasn't that lonely after all.

However…

Walking away out of sight from the blonde girl, the girl turned towards a group of other girls hiding behind a wall.

"Okay, so here's what she's doing…"

* * *

The day of the science fair has arrived, and Kay was happily making her way to school, her completed project in her arms.

Finally, it was time to show her hard work off.

Arriving at school, she immediately headed over to the school hall, where the fair would take place, to drop off her project and sign it up.

And she did just that. Getting her official approval for absence from her typical classes, she set her things up, unable to wait for the event to officially start.

The thought of winning that trophy excited the young blonde girl, and she had confidence that she will be a contender.

She had just finished setting up the volcano when she saw a group of people marching towards her in the distance.

As they got closer, she realized that it was one of the teachers responsible for the event, and she doesn't look very happy. And following her were the main trio of girls responsible for making her life miserable, and one of them was holding… a papier mache volcano?

"Kay," the teacher started as she stood imposingly in front of the young blonde, "can you explain why you decided to copy Amaya's project?"

"W-what?" the girl replied, stunned at the accusation. "I didn't copy anyone!"

"You lie!" Amaya and her group chorused together, having obviously conspired together.

"I saw Kay look at us making this a few days ago!" one of them accused.

"I told her all about my plan and she decided to copy me!" Amaya lied. "Miss, she's cheating!"

"What?! I didn't!" the blonde girl retorted angrily. "I didn't see you and I've never talked to you, and I don't even _know_ you're participating!"

"You did!" the third girl retorted. "We told you!"

"You did not!" Kay yelled back. Damned if she will be, she is _not_ going to let them step over her now. "Do you have any proof?!"

"The fact that you have the same design of our project is proof!" Amaya shouted. "And the three of us saw you!"

"What kind of reason is that?! You all are ganging up against me as usual!"

"Are you saying that we're _lying? _That our project that we worked so hard for is a cheat?! How dare you! Miss, you can see now!"

"Yes! I! Am!" Kay stared deep into Amaya's eyes defiantly. "You have been-"

"ENOUGH!" the teacher suddenly shouted right at Kay, the poor blonde girl jumping back in surprise and fright. "I've heard enough. Miss Maruyama, you know that cheating is a serious offense in anything, do you not?"

"B-but I didn't-"

"Shut up while I am talking! You are now officially disqualified from this fair!"

Kay went silent in complete shock. "... What- I didn't, DIDN'T CHEAT!" she yelled in rage.

_Smack!_

Reeling back, the blonde girl put a hand on her left cheek, where the teacher had just slapped her.

"Do not be rude to me, Kay. As I have said, you," the teacher went on, holding up the blonde girl's project, "are disqualified."

And with that, she flipped the papier mache volcano upside down and released it.

Completely stunned with shock and pain, Kay could only watch as her weeks of hard work was destroyed as it hit the floor.

She was completely silent.

"Amaya, here you go," the teacher went on, showing the cheating mastermind the spot where Kay's volcano was. "Once you clear up the trash on the floor, you can get ready for your presentation. Good luck, you three."

And with that, she strolled off, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Kay, Kay, don't cheat, alright?" Amaya sneered as she continuously stepped and ground on the poor blonde girl's project, the other two girls snickering as they set up their own fraud of a submission.

Kicking the destroyed pieces of the project to the blonde girl's feet, Amaya chuckled as she went to her copy of Kay's work, completely ignoring the blonde girl.

Tears were streaming down the poor girl's anguish-ridden face.

Without a word, Kay turned around and ran off.

She ran.

Away from the three girls.

Away from the teacher.

Away from everyone.

Running up the stairs of the school, she charged straight down a corridor, her severely strong emotions bottled up, her tears obvious.

She had already figured out what led to this.

Only when she entered an empty room and slammed the door behind her did she fall to her knees and finally scream out in pure, unadulterated anguish, her tears now pouring down her face.

She sobbed uncontrollably, completely broken down.

Betrayed by who she thought was a friend. The one thing she cared for that wasn't touched by them was now completely ruined.

As was herself.

She wanted so bad for this to be just a sick joke of a nightmare, even if she clearly knew this was reality.

She wanted so bad to have seen this coming and prevented this from happening in the first place, even if that was impossible.

She wanted it all to end.

All of it.

All of it.

All of-

"Hello?" a soft female voice spoke from the door, having been opened without Kay noticing. "Is everything alright?"

The blonde girl turned back to look at the source of that voice.

The girl standing at the door is a blonde as well. Well, a different shade of blonde, but blonde nonetheless. Kay recognized her from another class at her same level, but they've never interacted before.

The other girl smiled softly. "Do you need any help?"

Kay turned her back to her, her face stained with tears. "No."

"That's a lie," the girl persisted, shutting the door behind her. Walking over to the grief-stricken blonde, she sat down beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you care? Amaya sent you, right?" she rebuked rather rudely.

The other girl, however, took zero offense, able to see how upset Kay is. "I don't even know who Amaya is. Is that why you're so unhappy now?"

Kay remained silent, sobbing again.

And with that, she told this girl everything. From her project, to the girl and their conversation, and finally to what happened earlier that day. During this entire time, the newcomer listened intently to Kay's side of the story.

"I… I don't want to live anymore…" Kay sobbed uncontrollably.

Without warning, the other girl pulled her fellow blonde in an embrace.

"Listen, you deserved none of this," she soothed as Kay continued to cry. "You did nothing wrong, and although I can't help solve your problems, I want you to know that I'll be here for you. Always. I'm going to be your friend, alright?"

The sobbing girl looked at the warm, friendly face of this new girl. "R-really?"

"Yes," she smiled. "My name's Asuka, Kishimoto Asuka. What's yours?"

"I-it's Kay, Maruyama Kay…"

"Well, Kay, I've got your back now. Don't worry."

And as she looked at Asuka's warm smile, Kay started to feel that perhaps the world wasn't as cruel as she thought.

Just as her new friend had proved.

_Present_

Kay smiled at the memory, a little tear rolling down the Saunders commander's eye.

She had become very close, then best friends with Asuka, and the both of them forged an extremely strong bond together. As Asuka pulled Kay out of her sadness and breathed happiness into her life, Kay returned the favor, helping out her best friend in schoolwork, advice and the like. Both of them, of course, hung out very frequently.

Kay's the cheerful person she's now in no small part thanks to her blonde friend. And Asuka absolutely loved every moment spent with Kay. Both of them found a mutual liking and passion for sensha-do, and they'd talk for hours on end about tanks, combat tactics and the like.

Eventually, though, there came the time where the both had to separate. And that moment was when they went off to high school. While Kay entered Saunders, Asuka went somewhere else.

That doesn't mean they never met each other again. Not even _close_ to that.

But before that…

"I hope Alisa turns up for dinner later…"

* * *

As Naomi checked her phone, Alisa sat beside her, quietly waiting for Kay to arrive.

They were at that popular burger joint that Saunders proudly owned, and the food here was splendid. Everyone left that place with only praise.

And yet, the shorter Saunders vice-commander didn't feel like eating. Unusually, she was afraid.

Afraid of Kay.

"Oh, she's here," the other vice-commander commented, waving as she saw the familiar blondie enter the joint.

As Kay waved back and walked over to the table, Alisa looked down in shame.

To her surprise, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at Kay's smiling, apologetic face.

"Hey Alisa, I'm really sorry for losing my temper at you. It was out of place for me to blow up at you for that, and I really hope our friendship isn't spoilt because of this. I just… had some things in my mind then."

"N-no, I deserved that!" Alisa quickly replied. "You were right; I was getting really out of hand with all those shenanigans, and today's one backfired hard on us. If anything, _I _should be the one apologizing."

She bowed down towards the blonde girl. "Commander, I'm sorry for trying to cheat despite your multiple warnings to me. Please forgive me."

In response, the Saunders commander smiled, rubbing her vice-commander's hair. "You're forgiven. Cheer up, Alisa!"

The vice-commander sat up, a smile finally on her face. "Thank you, Commander! I swear I'll never pull this off ever again!"

She got a pleased thumbs-up in response.

Beside them, Naomi smiled as well.

"Anyway, what's on the menu tonight?" the blonde girl sat down next to Alisa, looking at the menu.

And within a few minutes, all three of them were hungrily chomping down on massive burgers.

"Commander, was there any reason why you blew up at me?" Alisa asked innocently, curious about the uncharacteristic behavior the Saunders commander displayed earlier today.

"Mmh? Oh, yes there is," was the reply. "It's something that happened back years ago."

"Wanna talk about it?" Naomi asked.

The Saunders commander smiled. "Sure. It's time I told you two about it anyway. Especially to you, Alisa!" she grinned.

And she told the tale to her two vice-commanders.

"Man, that's rough," Naomi commented.

"Damn, I… didn't know," Alisa muttered quietly. "I'm sorry for what you've been through."

"Bah, I've gotten past it," Kay shrugged off nonchalantly. "But yeah, now you know why I've got such a dim view on cheating. Anyway, you'll stop trying to skirt the rules, yeah? That's good enough for me, Vice-Commander!"

The twin-pigtailed girl smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Time for me to just play the fucking matches as intended."

Kay gave her a big thumbs-up.

"Still, do you miss Asuka?" Naomi asked. "Surely you would after you both went your separate ways."

"Oh," Kay beamed. "Not at all! I've stayed in constant contact with her up till today! And right now," she smiled, looking out of the window and at the starry night sky, "I think she's thinking about me too. Also, whoever said anything about 'separate ways'? We're both linked via sensha-do!"

"Eh?" Alisa perked up. "Really?"

"Yep! And you guys know her too! We've met multiple times already!"

"But there wasn't any 'Asuka' we've come across," Naomi recalled.

"Of course not, she goes by a different name given to her now! I mean," the Saunders commander grinned, "haven't you guys met the commander of St Gloriana's sensha-do team?"

It took a few seconds for it to settle in, but when the implication finally hit the two Saunders vice-commanders their jaws dropped. Looking at each other first, eyes wide, they turned to stare at their commander in complete surprise and awe.

And at the same time, in a dormitory room on St Gloriana's schoolship, Kay's guess was correct, as Darjeeling looked out of her window at the starry night sky, a cup of tea and a saucer in her hands as thoughts about a certain fellow blondie occupied her mind.


	7. Chapter 5

_Five_

**Heyyy, author here! First off, I'll like to apologize for the lack of updates, had some stuff in life. Secondly, I just want to mention that singing will be "**_in Italics and will thus share the same format as third-person thought or flashback dialogue._" **Brackets will not be needed for them, because they're all going to be depicted in their respective languages.**

**A form of visual guide that I want to establish is that you can tell the difference between a thought/flashback or real time singing through the inverted commas being italicized or not.**

_**Amendments of Mistakes:**_

_**\- Grey Wolf is now an M4A1(75). The only M4A2s ever fielded by the US were from the Marines, and as far as I'm aware there's little to none of these tanks fielded by the US in Europe.**_

_**\- The 76 mm Shermans' "main" gunner sights are the M71D telescopic sights (I've mistakenly written that "Louise peered into the M10D periscope sights" due to a prior lack of information. The two periscopic sights found on at least the 76mm Sherman variants are used in close range due to a better field of view, which translates to better target acquisition). This mistake has been edited out inside the story itself.**_

_**\- Not a major one, but the Shermans' Westinghouse vertical stabilizers having an effectiveness of up to 15 mph (24.6 km/h) as opposed to the 25 km/h mentioned in previous chapters. The value has just simply been rounded up to the nearest full value, but it's not entirely accurate so I'll refrain from using 25 and will instead use 24.**_

_**What seems like mistakes but aren't oversights:**_

_**\- The E8 having a lower top speed than Saunders' other Shermans despite having better acceleration. This is because sensha-do tanks have their engines modified and tuned for increased reliability and output, while Ace's Ford GAA is still in its WW2 configuration and setup.**_

_**\- Differences between reality and anime canon:**_

_**\- The M4A3(76)W HVSS (M4A3E8) finished its development months earlier than it did in real life and arrived in the European Theater about a month after D-Day.**_

_**\- Sensha-do is banned in the EU. **_

_**\- This story shares mostly the exact same storyline as the anime with my own additions and elaborations (such as the previous chapter about Kay) but truly branches out into its own line shortly after the events of der Film. However, information from other works (including das Finale) will be used, and related inspirations from these works may be included.**_

_**Further Notes:**_

_**\- The EU's ban on sensha-do started sometime between the 1980s and 1990s as a result of a yet-unmentioned fatal accident. (Psst, you can ask Louise about it!)**_

**There we go. Now, finally, onto the story.**

After meeting with various people from all the other schools, including but not limited to their commanders, vice-commanders and Ooarai's Mallard Team (with Sodoko immediately pouncing on both Kay and Louise over their escape earlier that day), Darjeeling and the young Tuckerman, the both of them now on their own, noticed a certain redhead just in front of them.

"Louise," the St Gloriana commander introduced to the new Saunders girl, "This is Rosehip. Of course, you've both met before, back at your house."

"Ey yo, it's you!" Rosehip greeted cheerfully. "Haven't seen you since that night! Welcome to the Sensha-do community! You'll definitely have fun!"

"T-thank you," the young Tuckerman replied shyly, a blush forming on her cheeks. "Nice to see you again."

The St Gloriana commander thought about whether she should, just out of jest, go back on her word and tell the redhead what Louise had said about her earlier on, but decided against it.

For now.

She raised her teacup to her lips and took a sip… of air.

"Ah, looks like I've run out of tea. You two chat on, I'll go look for Orange Pekoe. Later."

And with that, as Louise nodded in acknowledgement and Rosehip waved back, the commander walked away, searching for that orange-haired girl.

"Pekoe's always carrying that teapot around everywhere for Darjeeling-sama!" Rosehip chuckled. "It's pretty cute, actually!"

"You guys seem to always be drinking tea," Lou commented.

"Yeah, we guys are required to have a tea addiction to be enrolled in St Gloriana."

"Ah- W-wait," the young Tuckerman quickly took a double take and stared at the redhead in disbelief, "you're joking, right?"

"Hahahah!" the girl laughed, seeing that utterly dumbfounded face on the Saunders girl. "Yes! Yes I am! Man, I'm sorry, b-but that face-"

Rosehip couldn't even complete her sentence. "Bwahahahahaha!"

Seeing the funny side as well, Louise giggled along as well, joining the redhead's infectious laughter.

"Hahahaha! A-Anyway, yeah, we do drink an awful lot of tea in general. To be honest that tea addict statement isn't actually _that_ far fetched; we're practically _required_ to drink tea all day, everyday. Something like a school etiquette, if you may, and in St Gloriana there's nothing stocked up as much as tea leaves. To be honest I get sick of it at times, so times like this where other drinks are actually available are great to me! I can finally get a Coke!"

Louise nodded happily. "I see. Must be hard on you, eh?"

"Yeah, it's hard on me, but no worries, it's not that bad anyway!" Rosehip grinned cheerily. "Anyway, so, it's obvious you're hyped for sensha-do, it's all reflected in your eyes!"

"R-really?"

"Yep!" was the cheerful reply. "I can tell you're the type that's really into it, and I know that because of that you'll have it all in the bag really quickly-desu wa! I've got faith that you'll do great!"

"W-well, thank you!" Louise smiled shyly. "I'll try not to disappoint."

"Bah, you won't! You'll definitely learn fast for sure! Ah, speaking of which, what grade are you in?"

"From what they said, I'm gonna be in Year One."

The redhead's eyes lit up. "Ooh, so the same grade as me!"

"Ooh, really?"

"Yeah! We've both got plenty to learn and we're gonna run into each other in the field for three years! Well, two and a half, but you get me!"

"Y-yeah, that's cool!" the young Tuckerman beamed. "I'll do my best!"

"Sweet! Hey, random question, but do you like cars?"

"Oh? Well, I'm into them, racing as well," was the reply. "It's not all tanks with me, after all."

The redhead's jaw dropped in delight. "Holy hell, really?! Me too! My second commitment's the auto racing team!"

"An auto racing team?" Lou's eyes lit up in interest. "You guys have one?"

"Yep! And Saunders also has one too!" Rosehip grinned. "We raced against each other earlier this year, it was fun! If you wanna join yours you should ask Kay 'bout it. Some of us have two clubs to commit to, and it's not really tough to balance both out! For me at least."

"Ooh, that's interesting," the young Tuckerman nodded, now interested in joining that as well. "I'll ask Kay later then."

"Heey, Pulp Kelp Tea!" a braided brown-haired girl from St Gloriana suddenly greeted as she walked up to the two girls.

"Oi, not in front of Louise!" Rosehip groaned, obviously knowing the girl.

The newcomer simply laughed. "Ah, so this is the new Saunders girl?"

"Yep!"

"So she is! You've been quite the talk for everyone today, Louise!"

"Eheh… " Louise blushed shyly. "I'm not good at having this much attention as you can guess. So, you are…"

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" the girl quickly apologized. "Name's Rukuriri!" she replied cheerfully, reaching her hand out.

"Tuckerman, Louise Tuckerman," the new Saunders girl replied politely as the two girls shook hands.

"I know everyone's said it to you already, but welcome to sensha-do! Also, when we meet on the battlefield you'll find me in command of a Matilda!"

"Yeah, that small, slow one," Rosehip snickered.

"Hey, the Matilda's great!" the brown braided-haired girl protested. "But yeah, it's slow," she muttered quietly. "If I had a choice I'd have picked a Crusader."

Meanwhile, away from the three girls, Darjeeling suddenly remembered needing to make a decision on something regarding Rukuriri, and soon.

"What is it, Darjeeling-sama?" Orange Pekoe asked, seeing her commander space out.

"Oh, it's nothing," the commander smiled. "Just some administrative matters for the team. I'll get to it later."

Meanwhile, back with the trio, the conversation went on as the three of them walked towards a fridge.

"Well, why not just tell Darjeeling-sama if you really like the Crusaders that much more?" Rosehip asked as they reached the fridge. "Hell, why not want _me_ to tell her?"

"Well, I'm sorta shy 'bout it, plus I don't wanna drag my crew along with me just because I want to switch tanks," the braided-haired girl sighed as she opened the glass door. "What do you guys want?"

"Coke!" both Louise and Rosehip replied at the same time. Turning to look at each other, both promptly giggled at the coincidence.

"Alright, here ya two go!" Rukuriri chuckled, passing them a can each. "Though, Rosehip, you sure you can take it?"

"Of course, it's just a mere sugar rush!" the redhead grinned as she opened the can, gulping the contents down. "Ahh! Perfect!"

And just a few minutes later, a hyperactive Rosehip, shaking with excess energy, was rambling about her Crusaders at a breakneck pace, with Rukuriri trying to calm her down and Louise laughing at the scene.

"BUTIWORKONMYTANKMYSELFSOIKNOWHERBEST!" the redhead barreled on uncontrollably as she ran circles around the two girls, passing girls looking on in amusement. "HELLI'MACRUSADERMAINMECHANICMYSELF!"

"O-okay, calm down, calm down!" Rukuriri sweatdropped. "Yeah Lou, this is '_sorta'_ a common occurrence for Rosehip here. _By 'sorta' I really mean _every single day," the girl added on, muttering the last sentence under her breath.

"I see, I see," the young Tuckerman giggled.

"Well, yeah, she's gonna be like this for a while before dropping down in exhaustion. So, I guess you can say Rosehip's unavailable for the rest of the night. _Oh boy here we go..._"

"Is that girl always on a sugar high?" Naomi asked Assam as the both of them watched Rosehip shake Rukuriri violently as she barreled on with something, Louise amused and just watching the scene unfold.

The St Gloriana vice-commander sighed. "That's Rosehip for you. When we get back we _really_ need to limit her sugar intake."

"Oi, Noriko!" the braided brown-hair girl shouted out with Rosehip clinging on to her, seeing the familiar face a distance away. "Save meeeee!"

* * *

As it got late enough, most of the girls returned to their rooms, doing their final packing for tomorrow's departure in the morning before eventually going to bed.

In Kay's room, the four girls were long already done with their packing (one of them having never unpacked for the most part), which meant they got to wash up and prepare to sleep earlier than the others. With the commander and Naomi off in the showers, Alisa, already having hers, laid in her bed, her pigtails undone, her two hairbands placed inside her locker. Meanwhile, Louise, having already washed up as well, was on her bed as well, but was busy adjusting her alarm clock in the dim light.

"Ooo… kay," she muttered to herself, satisfied as she put the clock down in her open locker, next to her headband. Like the team heads sleeping in the same room as her, she decided to wake up earlier than the other Saunders girls.

"Hey, Alisa," she asked, "can I take Ace out for a little spin early tomorrow?"

"Hm?" the vice-commander looked up. "What for?"

"Some personal business," was the reply. "I need to do one more thing before we go."

"Woah, Tuckerman, I never knew you were _that_ kind of person," Alisa joked.

"Eh? O-oh, I didn't mean that!" the shy girl hastily corrected. "Not _that_ kind of business!"

The vice-commander laughed. "Just kidding. Seriously though, what do you wanna do?"

"We're back!" Kay greeted cheerfully with Naomi following behind. "Did we miss something?"

"Not really," Alisa replied. "Lou"s just asking me whether she can take Ace out early tomorrow."

"Oh? What for?" Naomi asked.

"She's getting there," the other vice-commander smiled. "Go on, Lou."

"A-alright! Anyway, well," Louise continued on, scratching her cheek timidly, "I figured that since we're bringing Ace away, I thought I should bring her back to the place where she engaged that King Tiger. For the pictures; I wanna park her at her spot and recreate how she looked back then. Also want to take that time capsule out, too."

At the mention of that battle, Alisa had yet another momentary flashback to her dream.

_Damn, her grandpa's really affected me these days…_

"Oh, you don't have to do it _that_ early," Kay grinned, noticing the new Saunders girl's alarm clock. "And you don't need to be alone. In fact, I'd like to join you! Is that okay?"

Louise's eyes lit up. "Really? Sure!"

"Count me in too," Naomi smiled.

"Well, of course I'll come along," Alisa nodded. "We'll help you take the pics too! Hell, I have a little something that'll get _really_ good pictures!"

The young Tuckerman beamed. "(Wow, sure!) I'll love it if you guys come along!"

"It's settled then," the commander smiled. "We'll have time after the early stuff, plenty of time in fact. So, just set your alarm to 5, and when you get down we'll be waiting for ya."

"Sounds good," Lou nodded, grabbing her alarm clock and readjusting it. "Alright, that's done. You guys gonna sleep now or…?"

"We'll never be able to sleep this early actually," Naomi snickered. "All of us are night owls thanks to all the partying back at Saunders, so we'll probably just stay awake in bed until we eventually doze off. What 'bout you?"

"Can't sleep early too," Louise replied sheepishly. "I'm a night owl as well."

"You fit just right in!" Kay grinned, patting the new girl on her back as she walked past to her bed. "So yeah, we'll do what we want for now. Alisa seems tired, though."

"Eh, not really," the vice-commander smiled. "So, insomnia gang?"

"Insomnia gang!" the commander and other vice-commander said together as Lou nodded.

"Well, what about we discuss the fight with the others?" Kay suggested. "We haven't analyzed it yet, after all."

"My ex-school streamed it for all of us," Lou commented. "Man, you guys got jumped."

"We obviously weren't scouting hard enough," Alisa sighed. "They were just next to us, how did we not see them?"

"Deciding on sticking closer was a mistake, my bad," Naomi chuckled softly. "But shit happens."

"Cheer up, vice-commander!" Kay grinned. "That was outta your control! Right, Lou?"

"Yep, it is," was the supportive reply from the young Tuckerman. Then she realized something. "Wait, vice-commander? Isn't that Alisa?"

"Oh, right, we never told you," Naomi smiled. "I'm a vice-commander as well. Unlike other teams we've always had two vice-commanders, and I've been nominated as the second one."

"Ooh, I see," Louise nodded. "Do both of you have the same jobs?"

"Well, we could," the Saunders sharpshooter replied. "But in our case we've decided to allocate certain jobs for each other to handle instead of sharing the workload of any single particular job. While Alisa handles all the logistics of our team, battle plans and all, I'm responsible for the training of rookies such as you. And of course, I give special lessons for shooting," she smiled.

"But I'm the one that everyone identifies as _the_ vice-commander," Alisa grinned proudly. "Naomi doesn't mention her being a vice-commander unless anyone mentions it."

"Yeah, I don't," the sharpshooter nodded, ruffling the other vice-commander's hair. "Don't wanna be too bogged down with the boring stuff. It's never been my thing, anyway."

"You make a great teacher!" Kay grinned. "That job's been going well if you ask me."

And the conversation went on for quite a while.

* * *

The beautiful morning sun shone down on the French plains, the dew on the blades of grass reflecting the brilliant orange-ish light off the ground.

Finishing its meal of nectar, a beautiful butterfly took off from a flower, proceeding to fly away to destinations unknown. En route, it passed by the destroyed, rusting hulk of Pluck, the VC Firefly having been silently resting for decades alongside most of her platoon mates.

Grey Wolf. Peaches. Snowball. The four Shermans had been resting together since their destruction all the way back in the Second World War, and just nearby was the wreck of the Tiger 2 responsible for their demise.

And finally, after decades of absence after being retrieved by her late commander, the only missing member of the platoon was once again present at that fateful battlefield, now parked at the very spot where she finished off the German heavy and avenged her fallen mates. The second-in-command, the sole survivor, the lucky one; she's here to complete the picture once again, perhaps for the very final time.

Inside Ace, Louise traversed the turret, slowly adjusting it as the wreck of the King Tiger came into view. Getting the direction right, she then elevated the gun and adjusted it, pointing it at an exact spot at the back of the imaginary still-mounted turret, where her grandfather had specifically described.

Satisfied, she got out of the gunner's seat, climbed onto the commander's seat and popped her head out of the commander's hatch. "It's done! Exact position!"

"Nice!" Kay gave a thumbs-up from outside. "Come on out, we're almost done! Is the drone ready yet?"

"It's ready!" Alisa replied as she used the remote control in her hands. In front of her, a camera drone took off, the view from it visible from a screen mounted on the remote. "All's looking good!"

"Why _did_ you bring a drone along in the first place, though?" Naomi asked the pigtailed girl beside her.

"For area scouting. I wanted to get a visual on the landscape before the match, since a simple map may not tell you absolutely everything. But I ended up not needing it after all, since we had an entire day to walk around the match area."

The short-haired vice-commander raised an eyebrow curiously.

"What?" the pigtailed vice-commander retorted. "This isn't for spying! Besides, drones are considered aircraft by the rules and are thus banned, so they aren't an option for me to begin with."

The Saunders sharpshooter smiled and patted the shorter girl's head in response. "I know. Just checking."

"Well I already promised I'd stop…" Alisa quietly grumbled to herself in indignation as she continued to navigate the drone, preparing to take a few pictures around.

Meanwhile, as Kay took pictures with her phone while sitting on the turret, Louise looked at the remains of the wrecked tanks from the commander's hatch, a distant look in her eyes.

The team commander noticed that. "Stuff on your mind, Lou?"

"You can say that," was the reply. "Ace hasn't been back at this very spot for decades, and this is the first time I'm seeing this field from this spot. I've seen the few pictures taken of the aftermath, but I can only imagine what it _truly_ looked and felt like back then for Gramps. It's just… surreal, even if what Gramps went through here was decades ago and this is just a tiny glimpse of what really happened."

"I can understand," the blondie nodded. "Must've been shitty for him."

The young Tuckerman nodded. "Of course. But he made it out alive, and at least that's something to celebrate."

"Agreed," Kay smiled. "Your grandfather's a great man, you know."

Louise turned to look at the Saunders commander and smiled. "Yes, yes he is."

"Pretty prideful there, eh?" the commander grinned.

"Y-you can say that," Lou smiled sheepishly, a small blush on her face.

_Heheh, we'll have to whip that shyness out of her when we get back,_ Kay thought to herself as she giggled. "Hey, let's take a selfie!" she said, picking her phone up again.

"Sure thing," the young Tuckerman smiled as the commander raised her phone up and made a peace sign.

"Smile!"

A few minutes later, with the drone's job done and Alisa having put it away, the Saunders group huddled together in front of Ace and the concrete cross for a group photo.

Behind Kay, Alisa and Naomi put their arms over Louise's shoulders as Kay took the selfie, with Ace in view behind the girls.

"Alright, it's done!" the commander smiled. "Now, one more thing, right?"

"Yep," the young Tuckerman nodded as she picked up the shovel that was placed on its spot on the Sherman earlier on.

"It's not that deep down, actually," she commented as she started digging in front of the cross. "At least that's what I remember. I helped bury it, after all. I'm just worried about any leakages, corrosion and all."

"Yeah, that'd suck," Alisa nodded. "Do you think someone could've discovered it and taken it out, though?"

"Well, that'd be a surprise," the new Saunders girl replied. "But considering everything, I doubt it. But that's not impossible, maybe someone got curious and dug down to see if anything's-"

A metallic clank as the shovel hit something interrupted her. "Well, that answers that question."

With the two vice-commanders helping out, Louise moved the remaining soil out of the way. Reaching in with her own hands, she picked up the box. "See, told you it's rather small! Looks like it's surprisingly not damaged in any way at all. Here, you guys wanna open it?"

"Sure!" Kay replied eagerly as she took the box from the young Tuckerman. As the latches were undone and the lid took off, the three girls peered inside while Louise dusted her hands off.

"Interesting," the pigtailed vice-commander commented as she took a large yellow envelope out, taking out its unsealed contents. "Hey, this is the after-action report!"

"Well, more accurately it's a copy of the after-action report," Lou explained. "The original's archived somewhere in America, I think."

"Interesting,"Alisa commented as she flipped through the document. "And as expected, it's really detailed."

"There's something else inside this envelope too," Naomi commented as she noticed something. Taking out a small stack of photos, the first one is one that's familiar to Louise.

Standing on the right side of the hull of a familiar Sherman, on the closed machine-gunner's hatch, Archer was clearly having fun disturbing Ford over on the other side, the annoyed driver trying to retaliate over the 76 mm's slightly-elevated barrel to no avail. Sitting in front of Ford was Baby, nervously trying to break those two up, while Butter, himself sitting in front of Archer, simply looked on with amusement. And down on the ground and standing in front of the M4 was Josh himself, having facepalmed in exasperation. The then-freshly-painted single black spade on the right side of the front plate was clearly visible in the picture, serving as the defining identification mark of the then-brand-new and plain tank.

_So that's what they look like…_ Alisa wondered to herself.

"Woah, is that your grandpa's crew?" Kay gasped in wonder.

"Yep!" the young Tuckerman grinned proudly. "That's him right there," she pointed out.

"He looks so done," Naomi chuckled. "Seems like he's got a rather fun crew."

"Yep. That's Archer right there, Butter's this one, and there's Ford and Baby," the new Saunders girl continued, pointing. "Gunner, loader, driver and machine gunner respectively."

"Nice nicknames," the sharpshooter smiled before she realized something. "Hold on, the loader's called Butter?"

"He doesn't actually have butterfingers," the new girl quickly clarified, to the amusement of the Firefly gunner.

"Ah, I see. Well, what are the other pictures?"

Naomi stopped at the very next picture.

It was a picture of a stationary Ace, taken in the aftermath of that battle.

"Oh, so that's where they went," Lou commented. "Yeah, these were the few taken by some people right after that fight. And yeah, that's what this place looked like back then. There are dead bodies inside though, so if you're not comfortable…"

"Bah, we're all fine with that," Naomi brushed off confidently, looking at the other pictures. Apparently, all the tanks involved were photographed.

Alisa felt a cold chill run down her spine as she looked at a dead Grey Wolf, flames coming out where her turret should be.

She shook it aside, and taking a glance into the metal box, she noticed something.

"Hey, there's something else inside," she commented, taking out a ziploc bag with a single white mail envelope sealed inside. "This is ziplocked, even. Hey, Lou, I think this is for you."

"Huh?"

With it passed over to her, Louise looked through the transparent bag.

"_For Louise."_

"This is my grandfather's handwriting," she muttered softly as she opened the ziploc and retrieved its contents. Noting that the white envelope wasn't sealed, she opened it up and took out a folded piece of paper.

"Seems like it's a letter," Kay commented. "Want us to give you a moment?"

Looking up, the new Saunders girl nodded. "Sure thing."

Moving a few steps away from the three other girls and turning around, the young Tuckerman unfolded the letter.

"_Dearest Louise,_

_If you're reading this, that means I'm no more, heh. I have ceased to be, I rest in peace, I am no more, I am an ex-Tuckerman, I have kicked the bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed my last, am six feet under, gone to meet the Guy up there, you get it."_

The young Tuckerman couldn't help but huff a smile at the blatant reference to a famous eulogy from Britain. _Just like him to do this._

"_Point is, I'm dead. Obviously. Else you wouldn't even be reading this, unless you dug the box up early or someone else got to it before you. Hopefully not. But anyway, I thought I should at least write this in advance, in case you need a few words of guidance from me one last time. If you've got everything sorted out already, though, that's great, but if you're down in the dumps, now's the time to listen to me._

_Look kiddo, you probably feel like shit because I'm gone, and you're probably worried about Ace as well. Now, you're probably expecting me to tell you to keep my _other _baby well and up and running, and I _know _that'll be useless for me to say because you'll definitely stick to her. Instead, I have this:_

_Go do whatever you want, and never stop chasing after your dreams. It's no secret that you want to follow the footsteps of good ol' Gramps and your mother in tanks, and right now I'm telling you to go at it full ahead. I know it'll be rough, I know you think it's a mere pipe dream that'll never come true, that the odds are always stacked against you when it comes to the one thing that matters to you. You're worried about being too old for tankery, worried about Ace back home, worried about not living your life. Relax. Along your path somewhere, no matter how bad it may look now, there will be many people to help you. Keep going at it, and someday you'll make it, I'm sure. As for Ace, I've always got a feeling you and her are connected, and it's not merely the 'It's my Gramps' tank!' type of feeling. That's why I'm sure she'll be just fine, and still be with you too. Who knows, she may follow you as well, and even if she won't she'll still definitely be safe with David, if not someone else. I know France is shitty with stuff like her, but there are just as many people, if not more, who will love to see her up and running somewhere. So don't worry 'bout it._

_Hey, look, I know I'm not good at writing stuff like this, so please don't look at me like that. But just reach for the stars, Louise. I know you can touch them, even if you don't see it yourself._

_Above all, I'm very proud of you. Don't ever forget that or tell yourself otherwise._

_I'll go see the guys and your mom now. I'll say hi to them for you._

_Love,_

_Your Gramps._

_Joshua Tuckerman (in case it's not you)."_

"Dammit Gramps," Louise muttered quietly, wiping her tear-stained eyes as a few droplets fell onto the letter.

"Hey, you okay there?" Kay asked concerningly from behind, all three girls noticing that the new Saunders girl was crying.

Turning around, the young Tuckerman smiled and gave a huge thumbs-up. "It's all good."

"Aww, c'mere!" the blonde grinned as she walked over and threw the young Tuckerman a hug.

"U-uh… t-too… tight…"

"Hey, you're strangling her," Alisa chuckled, seeing how Louise was getting suffocated. "Her face's turning blue!"

"(Oh, sorry)!" the blonde smiled apologetically as she released her strong grasp on the girl. "But if there's anything you need to tell someone, you can count on us," she said as she wiped off Lou's tears from her face. "Don't hesitate."

The young Tuckerman nodded, blushing. "I will. Thanks."

"Anytime!" was the cheerful reply from the commander as Alisa and Naomi came over to comfortingly pat the new girl on the shoulder.

"So, I guess we get to keep the box?" the pigtailed vice-commander asked.

"Yeah, we do," Louise nodded, getting rid of the last of her tears. "It's better for us to retrieve it instead of letting a random person discover it, I guess."

"And we can make sure everything in here's saved!" Kay grinned.

"We can make copies of the report and the photos too, either physical or digital," Alisa smiled. "I'll get to digitalizing those pictures in particular in high resolution once we get back."

"And put them into the school paper, too!" Naomi added on. "We've got everything covered here!"

"Sounds great," the young Tuckerman beamed happily. "Glad everything's in good hands!"

"Oh, looks like we've got to get back soon," Kay noticed as she checked her phone. "Well, is there anything else we need to do?"

"Fill the hole up again," Lou replied, pointing at said hole and the small dirt mould beside it. "Won't take long at all."

"Oh, right. Forgot that's still there. Well," the commander cracked her knuckles, "let's all get to it!"

And once the hole was filled again, the four girls climbed into the Easy-Eight. The V8 was started, and a short while later Ace reversed slowly, with Alisa in the driver's seat. Making a two-pointer, the Sherman drove slowly back across the field back towards the camp.

From the commander's hatch, Louise looked back forlornly as the survivor past and left her fallen sisters and adversary in their final resting places, the cross the only indication left that indicated the Easy-8's past presence there.

And just a few moments later, Ace left the site of the former battle. And as far as Louise was aware, she was not going to come back again.

* * *

With Ooarai and Pravda having said their goodbyes and left sometime earlier, only St Gloriana and Saunders remained undeparted, the British and American tanks separated from each other and all packed rather tightly together in neat rows and columns. The collective rumble of idle engines was obviously rather loud as the tanks were warmed up, made up of various different engine configurations.

Most of the Federation-supplied administrative vehicles, such as recovery vehicles, cars and vans had already left with the relevant stuff on them along with the two other schools, and Saunders' Jeeps have already driven away in the same direction. Everyone was headed over to a train terminal nearby, where everything will be brought over to the docks, unloaded and be transported back to their respective schoolships.

As the girls from both schools carried out their final checks, Louise poked her head out of Ace through the commander's hatch, observing the hustle and bustle going on outside her tank. The Ford GAA, happily idling away in the engine bay, made a distinctive note that stood out from the Wright-Continental R975 radial and Chrysler A57 multibank engines of her new peers.

"Well, the Super Galaxy has to make multiple trips anyway, so it'll be rather tedious," the young Tuckerman overheard Kay as she talked to another girl, walking towards the Easy-8. "Besides, it'll be unfair for the others too."

"Ah, I see." the girl nodded. "Oh, look over there, my commander's asking for me! See ya, Commander!"

"Take care!" the commander waved back.

"What was that about?" Lou asked curiously, leaning over the turret.

"Oh, Liz was just asking me why we're not using our Super Galaxy." the blonde replied from beside Ace.

"Super Galaxy? What's that?"

"It's a plane. A _very_ big plane," Kay grinned proudly.

"Wait, what? A _plane?!_" the young Tuckerman's jaw practically dropped.

"Yep! Belongs to the Air Lift Division, we use it to transport tanks."

"You guys have an Air Lift Division?!"

Kay laughed, seeing the utter disbelief on Louise's face. "Yep! I'll show you when we get back. Anyway, that aside, I'll be back in my M4, my crew's missing me. As for you, just relax, I've got a driver assigned to Ace for this trip."

"Oh, alright," the young Tuckerman nodded.

"And here she is," the commander pointed at the arriving girl. "Yo, Reiko!"

"Hello~" the girl greeted. "Hey there, you must be Lou!"

"Yes I am, nice to meet you," Lou greeted shyly.

"Nice to meet you too!" the driver smiled. "Kay told me to drive Ace for this trip, so here I am! Just relax and watch me go!"

"Sure thing!"

"Well, I'll leave you two then," the blonde commander smiled. "We can talk on the radio while we're underway. You've got Ace's radio tuned to the correct frequency already, right?"

"Yep!" Lou nodded.

"Sweet!" was the cheerful reply as the commander turned around. "See ya later!"

"Bye!" both girls waved back.

As Reiko climbed onto the E8 and opened the driver's hatch, a sudden idea floated into Kay's head.

She turned around and looked at Louise, who was still looking around from the commander's hatch, smiled and walked back towards the Sherman.

"Actually, Lou, there's one more thing for you," she said as she climbed up Ace from the front.

"Eh? What is it?" the new girl asked.

Grinning, the Saunders commander sat on the turret and took her phone out. Opening a note, she passed it over to the younger girl. "You're gonna be my messenger here. Get on the radio and go over the plan we've made down here."

"E-eh? T-this is a bit sudden…" the young Tuckerman commented timidly.

"It's no biggie, you can do it!" Kay smiled encouragingly. "Besides, we've still got to crack that little shell of yours open and bring you out," she teased.

Louise felt her cheeks turn red as she slunk deeper into the hatch. "E-ehh…"

The commander chuckled, seeing the new girl's timid reaction. "See what I mean? Go for it! Just identify yourself, tell them that I told you to do this and move on to what I've put down there."

"Ah, a-alright," the young Tuckerman nodded, reaching for the headset. Wearing it and grabbing the handset, she looked at Kay hesitantly.

The commander gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.

"A-alright then," she replied, activating the handset. "U-uh..." she began, her voice now being broadcasted across to every single tank present, "this is Ace..."

"Nah, we're not in a fight, just use your name," Kay quickly and quietly corrected from above, trying to hide her grin while seeing the poor, timid girl struggle.

"O-oh, my bad, Louise here," the young Tuckerman quickly corrected herself, her cheeks already beet red as she slunk deeper into her seat. "U-um, Kay told me to, well, uh… go over the plans for the trip now, so… W-well, it's 0948 now, we'll set off at 1000 in a straight file, and if all goes well we'll arrive at the railyard two hours later. In order not to cause unnecessary disruption, the local French police will escort us and close the roads ahead in advance, so it is up to us not to be late." The girl had relaxed, now more confident than she was just a few moments earlier to the pleasant surprise of Kay. "That being said, in the event of a breakdown or a situation where the column has to stop they'll give us all the time we need, so don't worry about that. As per what the commanders have agreed on, based on the maximum speed of the slowest tank in this entire column the speed limit will be 20 kilometers an hour. There's a special note down here from Darjeeling, calling for Rosehip in particular to _not_ overspeed as she usually does."

A loud, familiar groan could be heard from a distance away.

"When we arrive at the yard, all of us are to stay in our tanks at the loading point and maneuver around to help the workers have an easier job of loading us up," Lou continued. "On a crew-by-crew basis you'll only leave just before your respective tank's loaded onto one of the flatbeds, and only after then will we head over to the train station and board the chartered passenger train. The trip to Le Havre will take quite a while, but we are expected to reach there by tonight at latest. Once we disembark we will wait for our tanks to arrive, wait for them to be unloaded and then we'll load them up to our respective chartered transport ships. After that, we can say our goodbyes and split up, boarding our chartered ferries and return to our schoolships. It can be a long night, so everyone is encouraged to rest during the train ride."

Silence. "W-well, that's it," the young Tuckerman began to stammer again as her shyness returned. "T-there's nothing more h-here..." she muttered before releasing the button on her handset.

Not expecting a response, she was surprised when one came through Ace's receiver. "Darjeeling to Ace, your message has been received loud and clear. St Gloriana reports no objections to that. Keep it up, Louise, over."

"Alisa here, you're doing great so far there, over!"

"Mizuki here, Naomi and I seconded Alisa's comment, over!"

"Rosehip calling, it's all great, over!"

"Rukuriri here, you've got it, over!"

The girl's eyes watered up a little in happiness, touched by the outpour of support. "T-thank you guys!" she beamed.

Looking up and seeing the commander gesture to her, she passed the handset over to Kay. "Thanks for the support for Lou here! She's just rather shy now is all, but we'll fix that soon enough, over!"

"Surprising that she's not as shy as we thought, eh?" the St Gloriana team commander's voice came through the receiver's speaker.

"Yep, yep!" Kay grinned. "Apparently it comes out when it comes to business. Well, not quite actual business, but you get what I mean, over."

"Yes, I see what you mean. More exposure will definitely bring her out for longer, over."

"That's why I'm here to work on Lou! She'll be just as bold as us in no time, over!"

"Hai, hai. Take good care of her, for me as well too, over."

"Definitely will! Here, Lou," the blonde said, passing the handset back to her. "You can end the conversation."

"Lou here, thank you guys again!" the young Tuckerman smiled. "Ace out. Wait, I mean-", she stumbled, "U-uh, Louise out!"

The commander chuckled at the last part as the new Saunders girl blushed at the minor blunder. "Your stumbling's cute, you know! And it's cute that you're apparently used to identifying yourself as your tank, as if you're in a fight."

"W-well, I used to play in Ace and pretend I'm the commander after all…" the girl muttered quietly.

Hearing this, Kay laughed. "Aw, that's cute! I can picture you at 5 years old playing with the radio!"

"Eheh, that's what I did…" Lou blushed harder, scratching her cheek.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of! Seriously though, you did well," Kay grinned as Louise returned the former's phone to its owner.

"Y-you think so...?" the young Tuckerman blushed, looking up at her commander.

"Of course!" was the cheerful reply from the Saunders commander. "You just need more practice! No worries, it'll be a breeze!"

"Sounds good," the girl smiled shyly as she took off her headset.

"Anyway, I'll get back to my tank. See ya!"

With a wave, the commander slipped out of view, and the young Tuckerman heard her get off Ace.

Sitting alone in the turret, she turned to look at the SCR-528 radio set.

"Hm…"

And a few minutes later, with everything ready at 10 sharp, St Gloriana's Crusaders drove through the gates, followed by the Churchill and Matildas. And with the last Matilda having started off, the first Sherman followed closely behind, and soon enough the last Sherman rolled away from the camp, off back home. The remaining few Federation members left behind will lock the gate soon and return the keys to the relevant officials before setting off home themselves.

With police escort, the British and American tanks rolled on, and soon enough the long column reached the town. The route to the railyard called for them to pass through it, of course.

The girls were expecting it to be uneventful.

They were wrong.

To the shock of the St Gloriana girls and the amusement of the Saunders girls, the locals had apparently decided, out of jest, that the idea of allowing _British_ tanks to _quietly _pass through a _French_ town was completely unacceptable. Therefore, they have all banded together outside on the streets that the column will use, put up French banners, and as soon as Rosehip's Crusader came into view they began to shout patriotic French phrases while waving French flags of various sizes.

"Vive la France! Vive la République!"

"Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité!"

"Visser les Britanniques!"

And to rub more salt into the wounds of the poor St Gloriana girls, a band was set up and was now playing French patriotic songs, to the massive delight of the local crowd, which obviously sang along.

"_Au pas camarades! Au pas camarades!_

_Au pas! Au pas! Au pas!_

_Au pas camarades! Au pas camarades!_

_Au pas! Au pas! Au pas!_

_Au pas camarades! Au pas camarades!_

_Au pas! Au pas! Au pas!_

_Au pas camarades! Au pas camarades!_

_Au pas! Au pas! Au pas!_"

Even better was the fact that all of this was currently being covered by the local media. _Live._

Needless to say, Anglo-French relationships weren't about to get any particularly better anytime soon.

"I _knew_ this was going to happen sooner or later," Assam groaned in the gunner's seat of the Churchill, the singing audible even from inside. "British tanks in France; the joke's too big for them to miss."

"They weren't like this when we first arrived," Orange Pekoe commented in her seat, having stuck her head out of the loader's hatch a few moments ago.

Darjeeling quietly sipped her tea. "Have you heard of this saying, ladies? 'If you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not accept it, to whom does the gift belong to?'"

"Well, Darjeeling-sama…" the younger girl replied, her head poked out of her hatch, "apparently we've got a gift we can't return."

And the crowd laughed and cheered on as the Churchill rolled on, a French banner that flew by having gotten stuck on the 75 mm's barrel.

Assam simply sighed.

Of course, to nobody's surprise, on the other hand Saunders received loud cheers instead, the band playing various American songs in response, starting off with the obvious Yankee Doodle. The girls, obviously proud and pleased with the support, happily waved back from the Shermans as the column moved along, singing along with the songs they all knew by heart.

Even louder cheering and applause came with the arrival of the team's newly-acquired tank. The story of the M4A3E8 found in a local basement was already hot the moment it came up, and needless to say everyone in the town had heard about it by this point. The news got even more sensational when it was revealed that the local girl responsible for her tank's upkeep will be leaving with her tank for Japan as well, to take part in sensha-do.

The care Louise gave to Ace alongside her family did not go unnoticed; part of the overwhelming support was for her to thank her for taking care of the local tank without anyone else's support. Ace may not be a French tank, but she is the _town's _tank nonetheless. To them, that was already something to celebrate, and her intriguing history just adds on to that richness.

And of course, the other half of the cheering and clapping was a resounding rally for the local girl and tank to take the pride of the town and do their best in the sport they were off to take part in.

The young Tuckerman, blushing red, shyly waved from the commander's hatch, not expecting such a huge positive response for her, much to the amusement and adoration of the town.

"Our Lou is really getting a lot of attention today, isn't she?" Kay teased over the radio.

"Yep!" Alisa replied. "Apparently you're famous now! Go ahead and say something to the crowd!"

"She's retreating into her hatch now!" Naomi laughed. "Dammit guys, we're supposed to make her more confident, not make her crawl deeper into her shell!"

"All in good time, Lou," the commander reassured. "All in good time."

As Ace went rolling along, amongst the crowd, the young Tuckerman suddenly spotted someone waving at her.

Specifically, another Tuckerman.

"(Oh, Uncle!)" she called out as she waved back at the smiling man, as if she had forgotten that the crowd was there. "(I see you!)"

David grinned as his niece finally noticed him. "(Call back often!)" he shouted. "(Or just use Facebook! Yeah, Facebook's better! I'm on every day!)"

And the girl gave a strong thumbs-up in response, and the crowd cheered on.

A few minutes later, with the well-wishes of the crowd, the column rolled away from the town, and all was quiet once more.

However, while the Saunders half of the column felt natural, the St Gloriana tanks were shrouded in an uncomfortable aura of silence.

"... Well," Darjeeling's voice crackled through the radio, "this silence does naught but put us on edge. Rosehip's apparently taking a nap, it seems. Still, that send-off was, to say the least, _rather unexpected._"

"Yeah, it was a surprise!" Kay grinned, completely missing the St Gloriana commander's point. "We here all feel pretty happy about it! Right, girls?"

Various shouts of approval came from the Shermans.

"Yeah, but _we_ on the other hand got practically _booed_ out of town!" Rukuriri's annoyed voice complained through the radio. "We got them putting up French banners, waving French flags and singing French songs at us, and there's a goddamn French banner stuck on the Churchill's barrel!"

"Oh, is there?" Kay popped out of her hatch, looking ahead. "Oh, there really is! How'd it get there?"

"Well, shall we stop for a moment?" Darj requested. "I'll have it removed right away. It's not good form for us to not take it down."

And thus, the column stopped, and in a few minutes' time they were back on it again, the banner now folded neatly and kept inside the Churchill on the St Gloriana commander's request.

"... They've got poor taste, that's what they've got…" Rukuriri grumbled on through the radio. "No offense to Louise though, you're cool."

"None taken, no worries," was the meek reply from the Easy-Eight behind.

"They still could've given us at least one British song though…"

"Now now, let's not let that get to us," Darj consoled the Matilda commander. "Just remember what happened at Waterloo."

"Or better yet, Agincourt," another St Gloriana commander suggested.

"Well, WW2 itself fits too," Rukuriri pointed out.

"Well, I'm sure the locals were just kidding," Kay comforted the St Gloriana girls. "All in good fun."

"Well it wasn't very funny to me…" the braided-hair girl pouted.

Thinking of a way to lighten the mood of the other school, the Saunders commander suddenly got an idea. Picking up her handset, she began to sing, one that she knows the St Gloriana girls all love.

"_Up to Mighty London came an Irish lad one day..._"

Louise immediately recognized the song.

"_All the streets were paved with gold so everyone was gay!_" she joined meekly behind the few of the Saunders and St Gloriana girls that sang louder than her, through the sound of their tanks.

"_Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand and Leicester Square,_" more girls joined in as Kay's attempt really caught on, "_till Paddy got excited and he shouted to them there…_"

And amazingly, everyone joined in together just in time for the chorus:

"_It's a long way to Tipperary,_

_It's a long way to go!_

_It's a long way to Tipperary,_

_To the sweetest girl I know!_

_Goodbye, Piccadilly!_

_Farewell, Leicester Square!_

_It's a long, long way to Tipperary,_

_But my heart lies there!_"

And with their mood lifted, the St Gloriana girls sang on, revitalised and accompanied by Saunders as they rolled along the French countryside.

Darjeeling smiled to herself. She knew she can always count on her childhood friend to make anything better.

* * *

Eventually, the tanks made it to the railyard, where they were loaded onto the chartered trains over the course of a few hours. Once that was done and the last tank was secured on the flatbed it was on, the girls boarded the chartered passenger trains, and soon enough they were en route to Le Havre.

The seating arrangements were mixed between the Saunders and St Gloriana girls, and seat swapping between friends were permitted. Thus, Louise found herself right next to a carriage window and sitting to the left of Assam, with Rosehip and Rukuriri ahead and Yuko and Rin behind.

As the train travelled through the French countryside, all the girls were doing various different things. Some were taking a nap, in anticipation for the work they may need to do at night, some were entertaining themselves with the on-board movie selections or their phones, while others were chatting amongst themselves. And of course, there were those admiring the outside view from their windows.

One of those in the third group was Louise, at least until the girl beside her called to her.

"Hey, Louise."

"Y-yeah?" the girl turned around to face the blonde St Gloriana vice-commander.

"Do you have any plans on what you want to achieve in Saunders?" Assam asked curiously. "I mean, you're about to get your wish to take part in sensha-do and you get to bring your tank along with you, but isn't there anything specific you want to reach for?"

"Eh?" the young Tuckerman blinked, not expecting that question. "W-well, now that you've mentioned it… not really, I guess," the girl replied sheepishly. "I don't think I'll have one until I'm actually in matches, though. I-is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not," the St Gloriana vice-commander chuckled, amused at how the new Saunders girl said that as if she had just did something wrong. "Just curious is all. You're right about being able to find one only when you start fighting, so let's see what you'll have in mind then. And of course, good luck for your fights, even if you're fighting us."

"Sure thing," Louise nodded with a smile. "Thanks."

"My pleasure."

With that, Assam went back onto her laptop, working on something.

Curious, Lou didn't turn back to watching the scenery. "What are you working on?"

"Oh, this is about the upcoming Winter Continuous Track Club," the blonde explained as she showed the contents on her laptop to the other girl. "It's a secondary tournament commemorating the founding of the Federation that's just been brought back in commemoration of the creation of the Pro League."

"A Pro League?"

"Yeah, sensha-do beyond high school and university," the vice-commander nodded. "We obviously already have sensha-do for adults, but this new league finally makes things properly official and fully supported by the Feds. If you're looking to make sensha-do your life, you've joined at the perfect time."

"Things are looking good for us then, eh?"

"They are," Assam beamed. "This league is also going to be responsible for the very first sensha-do World Cup as well."

"Woah, cool!" the young Tuckerman's eyes lit up. "This is history in the making!"

"It is. First time the entire world competes in sensha-do, tankery, whatever they call it, but this is something major, up with the Olympics. Well, without Europe it'll be a bit lacking but," she shrugged, "eh, they're missing out."

"Glad I'm no longer in _that _loop," Lou grinned.

"Absolutely, though in that case I guess it's not truly a '_world_' cup yet. Anyway, back on topic and us high school girls, the Cup's rules are different from the National Tournament; elimination rules, the first side with all their tanks out or has lesser tanks when the timer ends loses. Tank number limits are as such; fifteen tanks per side in a regular fight, twenty for the semi-finals and twenty-five for the finals. These values are also going to be adopted for future National Tournaments as well."

"I see," Louise nodded. "I'll probably be part of this winter tournament, right?"

"Possibly. If you do take part, well, your first tournament will definitely feel great," Assam smiled. "And we might run into each other as opponents too. St Gloriana will not back down from Saunders, let me tell you that first."

"We're not backing down either," the young Tuckerman affirmed proudly.

The St Gloriana vice-commander giggled. "Seems like you've already assimilated yourself into the team already! Well, happy fighting when that time comes. Anyway, along with the cup comes a complete reformat of the media coverage sensha-do matches receive, already being put in place recently and ready for trial runs. The runs are set to begin for the cup, but right now they're putting it in any significant matches that take place before then, which is very likely the case. In this new format, well, the best way to explain it will be to look at the new format Formula One just received."

"Oh, I'm familiar with that!" the young Tuckerman nodded eagerly. "A sensha-do theme, active commentating, basically they're going to hype everything up."

"Correct!" Assam grinned. "Sensha-do will have a theme music piece, matches will be covered by commentators for the very first time, tank-mounted cameras are now going to be used, the overall coverage of the matches will be significantly increased and there will be more off-match events amd interviews for us. And of course, it'll all be done in a hyped manner, just like F1. There's obviously more to it, but you definitely got the idea already. I'm very sure there will be 'superstars' that rise up from us with the popularity polls that come with it."

"Any idea who they'll be?"

"I hope it's me!" Assam laughed. "Seriously though, yeah, you get the idea. You've joined at the right time, Louise."

"Seems like it," the girl nodded, blushing a little.

"Does Lou want to be one of those new superstars?" Yuko asked cheekily as she popped up behind the St Gloriana vice-commander's seat along with Rin.

"Eh? W-well, I don't think I will be one of them…" the shy girl muttered timidly.

"Hey, you don't know that yet!" Rin smiled encouragingly (and teasingly). "I think you can hit the 'Girl of the Day' rating!"

"Eheh…"

"Now, now, she's got to break out from that shell of hers first," Rukuriri joined in from in front. "How long it'll take depends, ya know?"

Lou only blushed and looked outside the window sheepishly, but enjoying the company a lot.

_Cute,_ the other four girls thought simultaneously.

"Well I hope I'll be on the rankings!" Rosehip popped up energetically. "It'll be pretty damn great desu-wa!"

"I think you do stand a chance, Rosehip," Louise smiled, turning her attention back to the conversation. "You've got all the makings to be popular."

"I sure do!" the redhead beamed proudly. "See, even Lou says so!"

"We'll see how things go first, Pulp Kelp Tea," Rukuriri snickered.

"Hey!"

"I feel the fans of St Gloriana will prefer a more… _elegant _approach for their top fan," Assam shrugged.

"Hey, you don't know that!" the redhead protested. "I think they'll like someone with more _oomph!_"

"Well with _you_ they're going to be _oomph_-ed up their asses!" the braided brown-haired girl retorted.

And thus, the three St Gloriana girls began to bicker with each other.

Not an uncommon occurrence, especially between Rosehip and Rukuriri.

"Ah, here they go," Helmet-chan commented, watching the three St Gloriana girls. "Well, guess it's us Saunders three left. I wonder if they'll finally notice me now…"

"Well, they can't miss Helmet-chan!" Gunner-chan smiled encouragingly, playfully knocking on the helmet in question.

"Doesn't wearing it everywhere feel annoying at times though, Yuko?" the young Tuckerman asked curiously, the three-way bicker from the St Gloriana girls being largely ignored.

The orangehead shrugged. "Uh-uh. Feels okay to me."

The Saunders trio watched the St Gloriana trio go on, Rosehip and Rukuriri now having a passionate argument as Assam sighed and rested back in her seat, having given up.

"Nobody's going to be interested in a slow-ass tank lumbering around along with other slow-ass tanks!"

"And nobody wants to be run over by hyperthyroid speedsters on crack either!"

"Are they actually insulting each other?" Rin asked.

"Nah, this happens _all_ the time," the blonde vice-commander sighed. "They're fine."

"Excuse me," a French stewardess politely asked, pushing a drinks cart over, "can I get anything for you ladies?"

"You can speak Japanese?" Yuko asked, surprised.

"Yes I can," the lady smiled. "The Federation asked for stewards and stewardesses that can speak Japanese for this train, as well as the previous one for the rest of the sensha-do girls."

"Ooh, that's neat," Rin nodded. "It's nice of them to do that for us."

"Indeed."

"That makes you the second French person we've met that can speak Japanese," Rukuriri smiled, having stopped the argument with Rosehip.

"I see," the stewardess grinned. "La première doit être cette belle jeune femme ici, n'est-ce pas?" she asked, looking at Louise.

The young Tuckerman was a little surprised at the new attention. "Oui, en effet," she smiled.

"What'd she say?" the redhead asked.

"She asked if I'm the first one," the young Tuckerman replied.

"Indeed," the lady nodded. "Well, what drinks can I get for you?"

"What's on the menu?" Assam asked politely.

"We've got coffee, tea, soft drinks and some wine, for starters," the stewardess replied. "Well, perhaps not the last one."

"I'll have some black tea, please," the blonde vice-commander requested.

"Milk tea for me," the braided brown-haired girl continued.

"Sure thing. And what about the four of you?"

"Coke!" Rin and Yuko chorused together.

"Me too!" Rosehip followed.

"No, you're not taking any Coke today," Assam stopped her firmly.

"I'm still sore from you dragging me around yesterday…" Rukuriri protested.

"Aw, bummer…" the redhead pouted.

The lady nodded. "What about you?" she asked, looking at Louise.

"Hmm…" the new Saunders girl thought for a moment. "By any chance, do you happen to have Red Bull around?"

"As a matter of fact we do," she nodded. "Standard, Sugar Free, Classic and Plus."

"Oh sweet!" Lou's eyes lit up. "I'll have Plus."

"I'll follow her order," Rosehip quickly continued before Assam protested.

"Alright, in a moment."

A minute later, the stewardess walked away, leaving behind three happy Saunders girls, one happy St Gloriana girl and two _very worried _St Gloriana girls.

"It's sweet, sour and fruity at the same time, and I keep on drinking this because I love that taste," Lou explained as she opened her can and took a sip. "Red Bull Plus focuses on both physical and mental boosts, so it's great if you need to be productive, stay up for an all-nighter or both."

"Cool!" Rosehip nodded as she opened her can and took a sniff at the contents. "Ooh, smells fruity!"

"You sound like you're selling the drink, Lou," Yuko chuckled.

"I-I do?"

"Heh, yeah!"

"W-well, I drink it a lot is all…" the young Tuckerman admitted shyly. "When I'm thirsty, when I exercise, when I have to stay up for stuff, even when I just want to drink it."

"That sounds like an awful lot," Rin commented.

"Eheh, I guess I got hooked…"

"That's definitely something we're gonna get Rosehip to avoid," Assam commented worriedly as the redhead took her first sip of the yellow liquid.

The redhead's eyes widened. "Holy hell! This is great!"

And she proceeded to chug down the whole can.

"Oh boy," Rukuriri groaned, her cup of tea in hand, "here we go."

And, well, what happened later on isn't hard to guess.

* * *

By the time the train pulled into Le Havre, it was already in the middle of the night. Despite this, most of the girls stayed awake, tired as they may be, waited for the tank transport trains to arrive, helped unload the tanks from the flatbeds when they finally came and load them up on the waiting respective transport ships.

Once that was done another few hours later, it was time for the two teams to have their passports stamped and to board their ferries. St Gloriana would go ahead first; Kay hugged Darjeeling, Naomi and Alisa just waved goodbye to Assam and Orange Pekoe, Rukuriri wished Louise the best of luck on behalf of a knocked-out Rosehip while dragging along said unconscious redhead on board, and the list just goes on. And with the ferries setting off, the girls waved back to each other until the St Gloriana girls were off a distance away.

And of course, it was time for Saunders to leave France as well. With their own ferries headed away, Louise looked back at the country she called home for one last time. Of course she's already beginning to miss it, but that does not mean she's not extremely excited about the path she's on. And with that anticipation in her heart, she leaned back into her lowered seat and allowed fatigue to take over.

"... -ise and shine! Oi, get up! You need to see this!"

"Huh…?" Lou's eyes opened, the smiling face of Kay greeting her. "What…"

"Oh come on, you _need_ to see this!" the Saunders commander grinned. "You can't miss this. Look at it!"

Rubbing her eyes, the young Tuckerman propped her seat back up to the sitting position. "We didn't get much sleep, Kay…" she muttered tiredly before looking out of the window. "What do I need to…"

The view of the massive ship that greeted her properly woke her up.

The best way to describe that vessel is "massive aircraft carrier", the whole ship resembling a Nimitz-class carrier, only that said Nimitz-class will not even look as large as a small bathroom toy boat next to this giant. the length of which already spans a good number of _kilometers. _And it's not one or two kilometers; it was so huge Louise couldn't even accurately estimate the size without hesitating. In fact, it was so large it completely blocked out the early morning sun, and the girl could not even properly see the ship from this angle.

"(Holy shit...)"

"Yeah, that's my first time reaction too!" Kay grinned as Lou stared on, wide-eyed and jaw-dropped. "This is the George Washington, our schoolship! Biggest around, too!"

"I see Louise finally sees our schoolship," Alisa grinned, popping up next to them. "Pretty impressive, isn't she? She's around more than 14 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide. Of course she's large; she's got literally an entire city on board!"

"H-how is this- since when did ships…" the young Tuckerman attempted to ask.

"Yeah, we Japanese are _really_ enthusiastic about the floating city idea," Naomi smiled, having arrived as well.

Louise could only stare as the ferry approached the massive schoolship. "This is incredible…" she gaped in wonder.

"She's our home away from home," Kay went on. "And from now on, this is your home too," she smiled, putting an arm around the young Tuckerman's shoulder. "We'll give you the tour as soon as possible! You'll know your way around in no time! Until then, just enjoy the view you're getting."

And some time later, the girls disembarked from their ferries and onto the George Washington with their luggage, Lou understandably still in awe at everything she was seeing. While most of the girls headed back to campus on Jeeps the moment they got on, selected drivers stayed behind with the Shermans while they were unloaded, bringing them back home. Those that were fine will be driven back to the Saunders garage, while the damaged and/or knocked-out ones were being moved to the Workshop for repairs.

As Naomi drove down the streets, Alisa riding shotgun and Kay and Louise in the back seat, the new Saunders girl looked around her new surroundings in wonder. The architecture of the Japanese suburban houses were rather different compared to the French suburbs, for one. And even from here, the taller buildings of the busier city center were visible, standing in pleasant contrast against the residential houses.

Louise had almost forgotten that she's not on land.

And soon enough, the splendid buildings of the main campus of Saunders University High School a distance away came into view as the Jeep got closer, the stylish designs and the sheer amount of buildings completely breaking every single expectation the school's newest student had.

"(W-woah…)"

"They're great, aren't they?" Kay smiled as their Willys MB stopped at a traffic light. "Completely not something you expect from a high school, eh?"

"This looks more like a university…" the young Tuckerman muttered.

"Yeah, we've got the best and largest campus among all the high schools," Alisa beamed proudly. "We even rival some _actual_ universities in size!"

"Perks of being the richest high school around," Naomi smiled.

"Woah, that's- wait, you never told me we're the richest around," Lou blinked.

"Well, you know now," Kay grinned.

"I…"

And with the lights turned green, the Jeep drove off, the young Tuckerman still speechless with surprise.

Moving on, the vehicle soon turned into the street just in front of Saunders, passing by the main entrance on their left, Louise managing to catch a short glimpse inside as they did. But they didn't stop there; the Saunders sharpshooter drove on, for quite a distance too, until they reached an open gate four lanes wide leading into the campus, watched over by two girls in Saunders uniform who waved cheerfully at the Jeep.

As the four of them waved back, Naomi turned into the gate and into the road that the gate opened up to. Immediately noticed by Lou, to the left of them was a large open concrete area about 60 meters long and 90 meters wide, the 90 meter sides running parallel to the campus walls a distance away. Just ahead of this area was a huge warehouse-like building of the same area, about 20 meters high from the ground to the roof, linked to the open space via a large currently-shut shutter entrance, large enough to very comfortably fit two Shermans in with significant space to spare, both in height and width. Judging from the Sherman ahead turning into the building from an entrance she can't yet see, Louise deduced that this was the Saunders garage, impressed by its size.

Back to the open space, parked on it were many Jeeps, the models varying from the WW2-era Willys MBs to the newer Ford M151s. Everyone there was busy; newly-arrived Jeeps, those that left for the school earlier from the ferry drop-off point, were directed to their parking spots, girls were working on non-running ones and the list goes on.

"So many Jeeps…" the young Tuckerman commented. "All that's missing are Humvees," she joked.

Kay turned to look at the new girl, a knowing grin on her face. "We'll show you them in their own garage sometime, no worries."

The girl blinked, silent for a moment as that information dawned on her before whipping her head over to look at the Saunders team commander, her eyes wide. "Say what?!"

"Oh yes, we have 'em," Alisa snickered. "Welcome to your rich new family, and your new sisters are about to spoil you."

Louise blushed at the comment. "E-eh…"

As she said that, the Jeep drove past the entrance of the open space.

"W-wait, we aren't parking there?" the young Tuckerman asked.

"Nah, we're going straight to the garage instead," the Saunders sharpshooter replied.

"Ah, alright," the girl nodded as the open entrance came into her view as they got closer. It was large enough for two Shermans to comfortably fit through with space at the top and sides.

And with the Jeep now at the entrance, Naomi drove in.

Louise was awed by the sight in front of her.

Lined all throughout inside were so many tanks of various different models and variants. M4s, M4A1s, a small handful of M4A2s, M4A4 VC Fireflies, and to the surprise of the young Tuckerman, even the incredibly-rare rare M4A6s. And the sheer number of Shermans present were not all; she could also see a row of Stuarts at the other end of the garage, too. All of them neatly parked in rows, this was quite the sight.

"Welcome back, Commander!" the girls present in the garage chorused together, noticing the arrival of the Jeep. "Welcome back, Vice-Commanders!"

"(Hello~!)" was the reply from Kay as the Willys MB turned out of the way of potential incoming vehicles and stopped, a small crowd forming around it.

"How was France?" one of the girls in the crowd asked excitedly.

"Splendid!" was the reply from the team commander as the four just-arrived girls got out of the Jeep. "It was loads of fun! And here's the newcomer we got!" she grinned, pointing to Louise.

The young Tuckerman just smiled sheepishly and waved her hand. "(H-hi…)"

And within seconds, the girl was swamped by everyone, all the attention now directed on her.

"(Eh… Uh…)" the girl stammered, not managing to catch anything and unsure of what to say.

"Now, now," Kay interjected, quieting the crowd, "Louise here's pretty shy, so she's not really that good with crowds. Don't put her in a spot, okay?" she winked.

"Okay~!" was the collective reply from everyone before they turned back to Louise, now less rowdy."

"Sorry 'bout that, guess we really swamped you just now," one of them smiled. "So, Louise, was it?"

"Y-yeah, Louise Tuckerman," Lou smiled. "I'll be part of Saunders and the team from now on, nice to meet you all!"

"Welcome!" the Saunders crowd chorused cheerfully.

"We always like new people around," one commented. "I'm sure you'll love it here!"

"I will!" the new girl grinned enthusiastically. "Can't wait to get into it!"

"Glad to hear! You'll be ready in no time!"

"What's your age?" another asked.

"Fifteen," was the reply. "I-I'm going to be in Year One."

"Sweet!" the Year One girls in the crowd replied cheerfully.

"Blood type?"

"Eh? Well, I'm an A+."

Various ooh-s came from the other girls. "AB…"

Louise raised an eyebrow in confusion. "W-wait, what's with it?"

"Oh yeah, you're not aware," the girl commented. "So, we Japanese have the belief that the blood type of someone can influence one's personality. It's a big deal here."

"Ah, I see," Lou nodded.

"Think of it like zodiac signs," another one continued. "Of course, they're not concrete, everyone's different in their own ways."

"I see," the young Tuckerman nodded. "So, what does my blood type say about me?"

"Well, you're talented, composed and eccentric," was the reply.

"Hm, sounds good."

"You may also be two-faced."

Lou blinked. "W-wait, what?"

"Relax!" the girl chuckled. "Like I said, they're not definite and there are many A-Positives that aren't two-faced. Just ask Commander over there," she pointed, "she knows one!"

"Yep, Darj's an AB!" Kay grinned.

"So is Rosehip too," Alisa pointed out.

"Ah, I see…"

"What's your favorite tank?" someone asked.

"Sherman," was the immediate reply.

"YEAH!" everyone cheered together.

"What variant?"

"Easy-Eight!" Tuckerman smiled.

A mixture of approval and confusion came from the crowd.

"What's an Easy-Eight?" someone asked.

Right on cue, the sound of a familiar engine came from outside, getting louder as the tank it belonged to approached the entrance.

"Well," Louise grinned proudly as everyone turned to look, "that's one."

"Wait, why's she here?" Alisa asked Kay, confused. "Wasn't she…"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell her…" Kay scratched her cheek sheepishly as the Sherman in question came into view, turning into the garage.

As the excited crowd reacted to her arrival, Ace drove through the garage door, the roars of the Ford GAA echoing off the walls and gaining the attention of other girls around, the engine tones obviously unfamiliar to them.

"So we really got a new tank!" one of the girls exclaimed.

"M4A3(76)W HVSS, aka M4A3E8," Tuckerman grinned as the E8 slowed to a stop close to the crowd. "Her name's Ace of Spades. And she's mine," she finished proudly.

The driver's hatch swung open and out popped Reiko's head. "Commander, you didn't tell me where to go, so I just brought her here!"

"Yeah, my bad, my bad," Kay chuckled sheepishly. "I didn't tell you to bring Ace to the Workshop. Best to start working on her soonest possible."

"This engine sounds a lot like one of All-Stars' Pershings," one of the girls in the crowd commented. "And that suspension doesn't look familiar, definitely not similar to the VVSS we use."

"Well, for that first point, that's because the Pershing uses the exact same engine as the M4A3," Louise replied.

"Ooh, really?"

"Yep! Only differences are that in the A3 it's called the Ford GAA whereas in the Pershing it's called the GAF and has different intake and exhaust manifolds as well as the oil pan and flywheel. Otherwise, they're still the same naturally-aspirated all-aluminium 32-valve DOHC liquid-cooled 60-degree V8 with twin Stromberg NA-Y5-G carburetors, a dual-ignition system and crossflow induction. Five hundred horsepower at 2600 rpm, a thousand and fifty foot pounds of torque at 2200 rpm," the young Tuckerman explained, the details she had long committed to memory easily rolling off her tongue. "I-is that too much info?"

"Not at all!" the girl laughed. "Keep going."

"W-well, about the suspension, the Easy-Eight uses the Horizontal Volute Suspension System, HVSS. Heavier, stronger, increases wheel travel, uses wider tracks, allows the changing of individual wheels and makes for a much smoother ride."

"I see, I see," she smiled. "This tank's really an entirely new beast, isn't she?"

"You can say that, but as a Sherman she's not too different, the only special thing setting her apart from fellow A3s being HVSS, which can be fitted on all other Sherman variants. Furthermore, the M4A3 is very similar to the M4A2 in all but engine, since they're counterparts to each other; the A3's exclusively domestic to the US while the A2's meant for export to Russia. So, other than HVSS and the GAA Ace's rather alike to that M4A2 over there," Louise explained, pointing to the parked M4A2(76)W a distance away alongside its few same-variant peers.

"Ooh, interesting… Wait, when was the last time we used those tanks anyway?"

Everyone turned to stare at the A2s curiously.

"Well, we use them occasionally for training. Not much for combat, though, we probably only brought them to a match only literally once some time back." one commented.

"Yeah, why didn't we use them in matches?" another asked.

"Well, mainly because they're the only tanks we have that run on diesel, and bringing diesel to a match just for them will be sorta unnecessary," Alisa explained. "I mean, we _can_ bring diesel along as well by all means, it's just that since there's so few of them and nobody ever uses them it's better for them to just be training tanks. But if anyone falls in love with one we sure can bring some diesel."

"We actually own much more A2s than we've got now," Naomi continued, "but we lend-leased them to Pravda some time back since they said they needed them. Haven't seen or even _heard_ about them since."

"I _told_ you guys back then we weren't going to get _any_ of them back…" the twin-pigtailed commander grumbled.

"Hm. Well, anyway," the girl who was asking Louise the questions turned back to the new Saunders girl, "you don't need to feel shy about speaking your mind, we all want to see you be your true self around here! Besides, you seem to be really knowledgeable about this, and we love a girl that knows her stuff."

"Well, I've been in charge of keeping her running along with my Gramps since I was a kid, so…" Louise said with a shy smile.

"Woah, really?l!" someone exclaimed. "That's awesome!"

Various calls of agreement came from many other girls.

"And he's the original commander of Ace, too!" Tuckerman beamed. "You can see she's been through quite a bit."

"Yeah, that's true," one commented, observing the wartime combat damage the Easy-Eight has. "What happened?"

"Long story, I'll tell you guys sometime later. Anyway, I'm glad the school has accepted me into here. It's been my lifelong dream of being able to do sensha-do with the EU having banned the sport, and it's also great bringing Ace along with me! Especially since she's saved from the authorities thanks to this."

"Pleasure to have you as well!" was a reply amongst other similar positive comments.

"So, I guess I'll be off now?" Reiko asked.

"Yeah, go ahead!" Kay replied.

"Alright then. See you guys later!" she waved. "Don't forget our plans, You!" she winked.

"H-hey!"

And with her head ducking out of view, out of fun, Reiko revved the V8 up to 2000 rpm and put the tank into gear.

Ace lurched forward as everyone jumped back, her tracks screeching as they grinded against the bare concrete ground, sending sparks flying out from the sides and back. A moment later, though, that stopped as the clutch was engaged as the girl driving her realized that was too much, giving the engine a small, short rev to match the transmission speed as the tank shifted into a higher gear.

And with that, the E8 continued without aggression, to the second exit just right in front of her at the end of the garage.

"Well, that was an aggressive start," Louise commented as everyone looked on.

"Yeah," Kay replied. "Well, now that's done, I'll give all of you a proper time to crowd all 'round Lou soon. For now though, we've got a busy day, girls, so let's get to it!"

"Yeah!" the crowd gave a resounding reply before it dispersed, the girls all headed back to their jobs.

"Alright, let's unload our stuff from the Jeep," the Saunders team commander decided. "Put it at a side, then let's hop on again. Especially you, Lou!"

"A-ah? What are we gonna do?"

Kay gave a huge grin. "It's your first tour!"

* * *

Over the course of the rest of the day, the girls brought their newcomer around the scholarship, introducing Louise to many new places while also telling her about the history of Saunders as a whole, switching between driving as they went on. The young Tuckerman had gaped in wide wonder at the amount and types of aircraft at the air base, with the three other girls showing her around watching in amusement. Of course, due to how big it was, they stayed there for quite a while, with the air team members very happily answering every single enthusiastic question Louise had for them.

After a quick lunch, the tour continued on, with the Jeep going around the scholarship to various areas and locations of interest. Of course, this was a buildup before they took her into the city area of Saunders for the final section of her tour. Stopping at the best fast food joint in the entire scholarship, Louise was treated to dinner by the three girls in command of the team, an offer she tried to politely refuse but was very quickly pressured into accepting it. This was one meal she fully enjoyed and will not ever forget, the four girls talking about various things from sensha-do to gossip.

After that heavy meal, Naomi suggested that they take a stroll at the shopping district, and this was during which Louise laid her eyes on something she knew she _needed_. And of course, she bought it. Soon enough, though, it was time to return to the still-busy garage to retrieve their luggage, and the two vice-commanders were dropped off there to reunite with their crews. Kay then drove Louise over to her new accommodations, which was an apartment on the 8th floor of a 10-storey block. There, the team commander showed her around her new house for a while, talking to Louise about how she found the school. Lou shared that she was impressed with absolutely everything, but found it most heartwarming that everyone was so friendly to her, something that Kay smiled proudly at.

Soon though, the commander had to leave, needing to return to the garage for a few important matters. And with a warm hug and "See ya!", the blonde was off, and the young Tuckerman was now left on her own.

Some time later, after having unpacked, Louise stepped out of the shower in her nightclothes, her damp hair let down.

Using the towel around her neck to dry them more before placing it on her chair, the young Tuckerman yawned tiredly as she lay down on her bed, recalling everything that had happened so far, rather shortly after the death of her grandfather.

The first sensha-do match conducted in Europe in years, albeit the teams being from Japan as an overseas exhibition, right in her home country and area. Ace nearly being seized by the French authorities before the Japanese team with its American theme came in and both saved the tank and gave Louise the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream. And all of these happened within the span of just a few days.

Everything still felt unbelievable to the girl, but fortunately the pleasant reality is that everything really did happen. And for that, she thanked her lucky stars from the very bottom of her heart.

Remembering something, Lou sat up and looked at her new purchase; a record player, now sitting on her table. Turning to look at her grandfather's record, she smiled, getting up and plugging the player in. Taking the record out, she placed it on the recorder and slowly moved and lowered the needle onto it.

And with the player coming to life and the very familiar piece recorded by Fred Waring began, one she had not heard in years, a wide smile grew on her face as all those happy memories came flooding back to her.

"_Over hill, over dale,_

_We have hit the dusty trail,_

_And the caissons go rolling along!_

_Counter-march, right about,_

_Hear those wagon soldiers shout,_

_And the caissons go rolling along!_

_For it's 'Hi! Hi! Hee!' in the field artillery,_

_Call off your numbers loud and strong!_

_And where'er we go, you will always know_

_That those caissons are rolling along!_"

**(**** watch?v=VYPTQN03u_o&ab_channel=FredWaring-Topic****)**


End file.
